^^••••^ 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


•  .If  11 .-. 


THE 


CONTAINING 


MEMOIRS  OF  EMINENT  PERSONS, 


EDITED  BY  RUFUS  W.  GRISWO"LD. 


In  crowds  the  good  and  mighty  so, 

And  to  those  vast  dim  chambers  hie  ; 
Where,  mingled  with  the  high  and  low, 

Dead  Ca-sars  and  dead  Shakspeares  lie. — R.  C.  SANDS. 


NEW -YORK: 

LINEX  AND  FKXXELL,  229   BROADWAY. 
1841. 


N 


[Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1840,  by  RufusW.Grisv,  olil, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  tho  District  Court  for  tlio  Southeru 

District  of  New-York.] 


TO   THE   READER. 


THE  plan  of  the  Biographical  Annual  was  not 
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°5     been  very  hastily,  and  in  many  cases  quite  im- 

K5 

<±1  perfectly,  prepared.  While  it  was  passing  through 
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|3  circumstance  has  added  greatly  to  the  difficulties 
g  of  its  publication. 

To  the  many  gentlemen,  who,  at  so  short  a 
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^  —  which  has  secured  to  the  volume  all  the  value 
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iu  most  grateful  acknowledgments.  To  others, 
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1 


X  PREFACE. 

and  for  furnishing  such  assistance  as  they  could 
conveniently  command. 

It  is  the  present  intention  of  the  Editor  to  con- 
tinue the  Biographical  Annual  from  year  to  year, 
to  make  it  intrinsically  the  most  valuable  of  all 
the  illustrated  annuaries,  and  to  make  it  rival  in 
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of  its  typography,  the  best  works  of  its  class 
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and  celebrity,  to  whose  co-operation  the  Editor 
refers  with  the  highest  personal  gratification. 

New- York,  Dec.  24,  1840. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
Theodore  Sedgwick. '   By  William  C.  Bryant.        .         13 

-^— William  Dunlap.     By  John  Inman.       ...         25 
Benjamin  B.  Thacher. 35 

X*~vTesse  Buel.  By  Prof.  Amos  Dean.  ...  37 
Judge  White.  By  Horace  Greeley.  ...  46 
John  Bleecker  Van  Schaick.  By  S.  Dewitt  Bloodgood.  55 
Jarvis,  the  Painter.  By  William  L.  Stone.  .  .  66 
Charles  Hammond.  By  Alexander  Mann.  .  .  73 
Rev.  Charles  Follen,  J.  U.  D.  By  Henry  J.  Raymond.  80 
Governor  Benjamin  Pierce.  By  Jacob  B.  Moore.  .  90 
General  Absalom  Peters.  By  Absalom  Peters,  D.  D.  100 
,^— Robert  Y.  Hayne.  By  Alexander  Mann.  .  .  112 
Richard  Bacon.  Jr.  By  C.  W.  Everest.  .  .  121 
/The  Chevalier  de  Gerstner.  By  W.  M.  Gillespie.  136 
Rev.  Demetrius  A.  Gallitzin,  "  the  Pastor  of  the  Al- 

leghanies."  By  Charles  Constantine  Pise,  D.  D.  142 
William  Leggett.  By  Theodore  Sedgwick.  .  .  150 
Solomon  Southwick.  By  S.  S.  Randall.  .  .  156 
Henry  J.  Finn.  By  Epes  Sargent.  .  .  .  171 
Rev.  Elihu  W.  Baldwin.  By  Joseph  H.  Myers.  .  181 

Nicholas  Cusick 

Rev.  John  Thornton  Kirkland,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.        . 

S — William  Maclure. 

Rev.  William  Stone.     ......      200 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

Page 

Governor  Wolf. 211 

Captain  James  Riley 216 

Stephen  Burroughs 219 

John  Helm 247 

General  Adair 252 

John  Lowell,  LL.  D 255 

Gilbert  Stuart  Newton.     By  J.  Kenrick  Fisher.       .  257 
Samuel  Ward.     By  Charles  King.          .         .         .266 

Stephen  Van  Rensselaer.        .....  283 

Dr.  Henry  Perrine.     By  W.  M.  Gillespie.     .         .  287 

Timothy  Flint 293 

Matthew  Carey 300 


THE  BIOGRAPHICAL  ANNUAL. 


THEODORE   SEDGWICK. 

BY    WILLIAM    C.    BRYANT. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir  is  one  whose  charac- 
ter deserves  to  be  held  up  to  the  imitation  of  all 
men  engaged  in  political  life,  or  in  public  contro- 
versies of  any  kind.  He  was  a  man  of  many  vir- 
tues, but  he  enjoyed  one  distinction  of  difficult  at- 
tainment— that  of  being  a  politician  without  party 
vices.  In  the  questions  respecting  the  powers  of 
government  and  the  proper  objects  and  limits  of 
human  laws,  he  took  part  with  great  zeal,  deem- 
ing them  highly  important  to  the  welfare  of  man- 
kind, yet  he  bore  himself  in  these  disputes  with 
such  manifest  sincerity,  disinterestedness,  and  phi- 
lanthropy, and  with  such  generosity  towards  his 
adversaries  as  to  make  them  regret  that  he  was 
not  of  their  side.  Nothing  could  exceed  his  dis- 
like of  the  ignoble  ferocity  into  which  party  men 
so  often  allow  themselves  to  fall,  save  his  abhor- 
rence of  the  unmanly  practices  to  which  they 
2 


14  THEODORE    SEDGWICK. 

sometimes  resort.     It  is  with  a  feeling  of  deep 
reverence  that  I  essay  to  speak  of  such  a  man. 

Theodore  Sedgwick,  the  eldest  son  of  Theodore 
and  Pamela  Sedgwick,  was  born  on  the  31st  of 
December,  1781,  in  Sheffield,  one  of  those  beauti- 
ful villages  on  the  Housatonic,  in  the  State  of 
Massachusetts.  His  father,  who  for  several  years 
filled  a  seat  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  that  State,  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  ability 
and  worth,  distinguished  for  his  legal  learning,  his 
courtesy  of  manners,  his  kindness  of  heart,  and 
his  sternness  towards  fraud  and  injustice.  The 
intellectual  character  of  the  parent,  with  the  no- 
bleness and  benevolence  of  his  disposition,  were 
the  inheritance  of  a  numerous  family  of  children, 
among  whom  were  the  subject  of  this  memoir  and 
the  Miss  Sedgwick  whose  writings  make  so  de- 
lightful and  useful  a  part  of  our  literature.  It  is 
related  of  him  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  constant, 
intimate,  and  unreserved  conversation  with  his 
children ;  and  to  the  communication  of  his  man- 
ners and  virtues  by  this  means,  much  of  the  men- 
tal and  moral  resemblance  they  bore  him  may 
doubtless  be  ascribed. 

When  Mr.  Sedgwick  was  but  seven  years  of 
age  his  father  removed  to  Stockbridge.  Here  he 
passed  the  years  of  his  early  youth,  and  having 
finished  his  preparatory  studies,  was  sent  to  Yale 
College,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1799.  He 
soon  afterwards  entered  upon  the  study  of  the  law 


THEODORE    SEDGWICK.  15 

with  Peter  Van  Schaack,  an  eminent  barrister  of 
Kinderhook,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and  began 
the  practice  in  Albany  in  the  year  1803,  in  part- 
nership with  Harmanus  Bleecker,  a  gentleman 
most  respectable  for  intelligence  and  integrity, 
who  now  represents  the  United  States  in  a  diplo- 
matic capacity  at  the  Hague.  This  partnership 
subsisted  until  Mr.  Sedgwick  left  the  bar.  He 
was  equally  fortunate  in  his  domestic  associations. 
In  1808  he  married  Miss  Susan  Ridley,  daughter 
of  Matthew  Ridley,  of  "Baltimore,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Governor  Livingston,  of  New  Jersey. 
A  great  man*  has  said  of  the  profession  of  the 
law,  that  while  it  sharpens  and  invigorates  the 
faculties  more  than  any  other,  it  is  by  no  means 
apt  to  open  and  liberalize  them  in  the  same  pro- 
portion. Upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Sedgwick,  how- 
ever, prepared  as  it  was  by  a  fortunate  education, 
and  singularly  noble  in  its  native  impulses  and 
sympathies,  it  was  very  far  from  having  any  nar- 
rowing effect.  Perhaps  its  peculiar  discipline 
even  heightened  and  strengthened  his  virtues.  It 
is  true  that  in  some  cases  the  profession  has  much 
to  answer  for.  When  it  finds  a  man  inclined  to 
knavery  or  to  pragmatical  dealing,  it  makes  him 
the  more  knavish  and  the  more  contentious ;  but 
the  truly  conscientious  and  humane  man  is  the 
better  for  wrestling  successfully  with  its  tempta- 

*  Edmund  Burke. 


16  THEODORE    SEDGWICK. 

tions,  and  the  man  of  large  and  masculine  under- 
standing finds  his  moral  judgment  ripened  by  the 
study  of  its  higher  principles.  Mr.  Sedgwick  ap- 
plied himself  with  great  industry  and  exactness 
to  his  professional  duties,  and  although  no  lover 
of  forms,  he  was  yet  an  expert  solicitor  as  well  as 
an  able  advocate.  As  a  speaker  he  was  impres- 
sive, endowed  with  a  natural  fluency,  and  with  a 
mind  exceedingly  active,  and  capable  of  instantly 
commanding  its  resources.  When  convinced  of 
the  justice  of  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
he  could  press  his  argument,  it  is  said,  with  ex- 
ceeding force  and  power ;  but  he  was  not  a  man 
to  play  a  part  in  the  tribunals  any  more  than  in 
private  life,  and  he  sought  not  to  suppress  or  to 
disguise  his  convictions.  For  the  tricks  of  the 
profession,  for  the  cunning  and  artifice  which 
give  some  men  a  reputation,  he  had  an  utter 
contempt. 

In  1822,  finding  his  health  somewhat  impaired, 
he  took  the  resolution  of  retiring  to  the  family 
estate  left  in  Stockbridge  by  his  father,  who  had 
died  nine  years  before.  At  this  time  he  was  in 
possession  of  an  extensive  and  increasing  practice. 
He  had  acquired  a  high  standing  at  the  Albany 
Bar,  then  adorned  by  some  of  the  very  ablest  law- 
yers in  the  Union,  and  the  successful  exercise  of  his 
talents  and  learning  was  every  day  raising  him 
to  still  higher  eminence.  There  are  few  men  who 
would  not  have  clung  to  such  an  opportunity  of 


THEODORE    SEDGWICK.  17 

acquiring  wealth  and  distinction — few  who  would 
not  have  tried  a  short  secession  from  the  labours 
of  their  profession  for  health's  sake,  in  the  hope  of 
resuming  them  with  new  spirit.  But  it  was  not 
in  his  nature  to  be  greedy  of  wealth,  and  mere 
distinction  had  slight  hold  upon  his  mind.  He 
appears  to  have  given  up  the  prospect  of  both 
without  regret,  and  went  back  to  the  beautiful 
spot  which  had  been  the  home  of  his  youth,  not  to 
waste  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  idleness,  but  to 
mingle  with  the  healthful  employments  of  the 
country,  those  projects  of  doing  good  for  which 
the  benevolent  man  everywhere  finds  scope. 

Few  men  have  fulfilled  more  completely  their 
plans  of  retirement  from  professional  business. 
The  remainder  of  his  life  was  a  life  of  beneficence  ; 
his  example  and  his  way  of  thought  had  a  visible 
and  most  favorable  influence  upon  the  community 
in  which  he  lived,  and  in  the  salubrious  air  of  his 
native  fields  he  regained  the  health  he  had  lost. 

In  1824,  and  the  year  following,  he  was  returned 
to  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives, 
and  again  in  1827.  It  was  in  the  latter  year  that 
he  brought  forward  a  project  for  constructing  a 
railroad  from  Boston  to  Albany,  which  met  at  the 
time  with  vehement  opposition,  but  has  been  since 
carried  into  execution  with  universal  assent.  Of 
that  enterprise,  which  is  to  make  amends  to  Mas- 
sachusetts for  the  want  of  a  great  navigable  river 
throughout  her  whole  extent,  he  was  the  first  to 
2* 


18  THEODORE  SEDGWICK. 

perceive  and  urge  the  advantages,  and  may  justly 
be  reputed  its  author. 

Mr.  Sedgwick  took  fi  strong  interest  in  the  im- 
provement of  agriculture,  and  was  twice  elected 
President  of  the  Berkshire  Agricultural  Society. 
He  was  particularly  attentive  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  various  kinds  of  fruit  to  which  our  climate  is 
congenial,  esteeming  them,  with  reason,  as  among 
the  most  innocent  and  natural  of  luxuries,  suited 
to  a  palate  and  stomach  undepraved  by  stimula- 
ting food,  and  he  therefore  held  the  opinion  that 
their  cultivation  and  consumption  \vas  friendly  to 
temperate,  healthful,  and  rational  habits  of  life. 
Among  the  changes  of  modern  manners,  one  which 
he  most  regretted,  was  the  general  tendency  to 
luxurious  and  expensive  modes  of  living,  and  the 
abandonment  of  the  simple  and  frugal  habits  of  our 
ancestors.  He  regarded  this  change  as  unfavora- 
ble to  the  morals,  the  intelligence,  the  physical 
vigor,  and  general  happiness  of  the  American 
race,  and  strove  to  counteract  it  in  various  ways — 
by  his  example,  his  public  discourses,  and  his 
writings.  His  ideas  upon  this  and  various  kindred 
subjects,  have  been  given  to  his  countrymen  in  a 
work  entitled  "Public  and  Private  Economy."  It 
is  full  of  wise  and  just  views,  and  is  informed  by  a 
warm  and  genuine  philanthropy.  It  was  the  prin- 
cipal design  of  this  work  to  promote  an  object 
which  lay  nearest  the  henrt  of  its  author — that  of 
narrowing  more  and  more  the  limits  of  poverty, 


THEODORE    SEDGWICK.  19 

ignorance,  and  vice  among  his  countrymen — of 
inspiring  them  with  the  love  of  personal  indepen- 
dence, giving  them  habits  of  reflection,  teaching 
them  reverence  for  each  other's  rights,  and  thus 
bringing  about  that  equality  of  condition  which  is 
most  favorable  to  the  morals  and  happiness  of 
society,  and  to  the  working  of  our  political  in- 
stitutions. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  strong  interest 
taken  by  Mr.  Sedgwick  in  political  questions. 
Perhaps  the  reader  will  infer  his  political  opinions 
from  what  has  just  been  said  concerning  his  book. 
He  was  educated  a  federalist,  and  in  early  life 
was  a  follower  of  that  school,  which,  without  de- 
ciding upon  its  other  merits,  must  be  allowed  to 
have  numbered,  among  its  disciples,  some  of  the 
ablest  and  most  virtuous  men  whom  the  country 
ever  produced.  A  strange  fusion  of  parties  took 
place  immediately  after  the  late  war  with  Great 
Britain ;  the  lines  of  party  association  were  oblite- 
rated, and  though  there  was  still  much  difference  in 
men's  views  concerning  the  proper  objects  of  legis- 
lation and  the  just  construction  of  the  Constitution, 
yet  they  who  agreed  on  these  subjects  scarcely 
recognized  each  other  as  engaged  in  a  common 
cause.  In  this  pause  of  party  spirit  Mr.  Sedg- 
wick's  reflections  appear  to  have  taken  a  new  di- 
rection, which  led  him  farther  and  farther  from  his 
early  political  faith,  and  when  men  again  began  to 
associate  in  support  of  their  opinions,  he  took  the 


20  THEODORE    SEDGWICK. 

side  of  the  democratic  party.  He  declared  him- 
self in  favor  of  the  election  of  General  Jackson  to 
the  presidency,  and  from  that  time  to  his  death 
his  sympathies  were  with  the  party  by  whom  that 
gentleman  was  supported.  However  much  his 
early  political  friends  might  have  been  surprised 
at  finding  themselves  separated  from  him,  they 
could  not  doubt  the  perfect  purity  and  disinterest- 
edness of  his  motives. 

He  warmly  espoused  the  freedom  of  trade  in 
opposition  to  a  protective  tariff,  when  the  country 
rang  with  the  warfare  of  that  great  controversy. 
His  opinions  on  this  question  were  at  that  time 
quite  unpopular  in  the  region  where  he  resided, 
but  he  was  not  a  man  to  declare  them  with  the 
less  frankness,  or  support  them  with  the  less  zeal, 
because  of  their  unpopularity.  He  took  part  in 
the  proceedings  of  the  Free  Trade  Convention 
held  at  Philadelphia,  and  lived  to  see  the  opinions 
he  maintained  adopted  by  great  numbers  of  per- 
sons in  his  native  county. 

He  was  twice  a  candidate  for  a  seat  in  Con- 
gress from  the  western  district  of  Massachusetts, 
once  in  1834,  and  again  in  1836.  His  personal 
popularity,  great  as  it  is  known  to  have  been, 
was  overpowered  by  the  predominance  of  the 
party  hostile  to  the  Administration,  and  he  lost 
his  election. 

His  ideas  respecting  the  objects  and  measures 
of  government  were  tinged  by  his  peculiar  moral 


THEODORE    SEDGWICK.  21 

constitution.  His  temperament  was  that  of  hope 
and  universal  kindness ;  he  looked  forward  to  a 
brightening  future  for  the  world,  and  he  judged 
favorably  of  his  fellow-men.  He  doubted  whether 
many  things  which  have  been  made  the  objects 
of  legislation,  would  not  be  better  cared  for  if  left 
to  themselves,  and  he  deprecated  all  unnecessary 
legislation  as  a  useless  and  hurtful  abridgment  of 
personal  freedom. 

I  remember  to  have  heard  him  speak  of  the 
remarkable  change  of  habits  in  New  England,  in 
regard  to  the  use  of  spirituous  and  fermented 
liquors,  as  a  great  and  glorious  moral  victory, 
honorable  to  mankind,  to  the  age,  and  to  the 
country.  He  rejoiced — no  man  could  rejoice 
more — at  the  spectacle  of  a  great  people  throw- 
ing off,  at  one  effort,  the  power  of  a  vice  which 
binds  men  in  chains  harder  to  break  than  almost 
any  other.  Yet  he  deprecated  the  intermeddling 
of  the  law  with  a  reform  which  was  owing  solely 
to  moral  causes,  to  persuasion  and  voluntary  reso- 
lution, and  feared  that  when  an  attempt  was  made 
to  enforce  temperance  by  statutes  and  penalties, 
the  effect  would  be  mischievous.  He  was  there- 
fore adverse  from  the  first  to  the  measure  called 
the  fifteen-gallon  law,  and  to  all  legislation  of  a 
like  character. 

Of  Mr.  Sedgwick's  opinions  on  another  much 
agitated  question,  I  find  the  following  account 
given  by  a  writer  in  the  Democratic  Review,  to 


22  THEODORE    SEDGWICK. 

whom  I  confess  my  obligations  in  compiling  this 
memoir.* 

"  With  reference  to  the  subject  of  slavery,  his 
views  were  equally  characterised  by  his  habitual 
liberality,  moderation,  independence,  and  sympa- 
thy with  the  cause  of  human  freedom.  They 
were  fully  stated  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Convention  assembled  at  Albany  on  the 
first  of  August,  1839,  in  reply  to  an  invitation 
which  he  had  received  to  attend  the  convention. 
He  declined  the  invitation,  though  with  not  less 
courtesy  than  firmness,  declaring  at  the  same  time 
his  hostility  to  slavery  as  a  great  moral,  political, 
and  social  evil,  and  his  devotion  to  the  unlimited 
right  of  free  discussion,  impliedly  guarantied  in 
the  present  case  by  that  provision  made  in  the 
Constitution  for  its  own  amendment.  He  con- 
demned the  movement  upon  Congress,  out  of 
which  so  much  excited  bitterness  had  grown,  as 
a  wrong  and  mistaken  one, — as  he  also  considered 
the  spirit  which,  with  many  noble  exceptions,  had 
characterised  too  much  of  the  agitation  of  this 
subject  at  the  north,  and  which  had  naturally 
awakened  a  strong  feeling  of  exasperation  on  the 
part  of  the  south,  as  widely  at  variance  with  that 
which  should  animate  a  great  moral  and  demo- 
cratic cause,  such  as  he  regarded  the  object  of 

*  Political  Portraits,  No.  XVII.  in  the  Democratic  Re- 
view for  February,  1840. 


THEODORE    SEDGWICK.  23 

effecting  the  voluntary  and  peaceful  termination 
of  American  slavery.  This  letter  was  a  noble 
and  beautiful  production,  and  transparent  through- 
out with  the  character  of  the  mind  and  heart  of 
the  man." 

That  generosity  and  kindness  of  heart  which  dis- 
tinguished Mr.  Sedgwick  in  private  life,  he  carried 
into  party  controversies.  He  was  candid  towards 
his  opponents,  ready  to  do  the  amplest  justice  to 
their  talents  and  virtues,  and  to  put  the  fairest  con- 
struction upon  their  words  and  actions.  He  re- 
gretted that  political  disputes  are  so  often  made 
fierce  and  bitter  by  the  collision  of  personal  inte- 
rests, and  earnestly  desired  that  they  might  be 
so  conducted  as  to  separate,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  one  from  the  other.  With  such  views,  he 
was  exceedingly  averse  to  those  removals  from 
office  for  opinion's  sake  which  have  been  too 
much  the  practice  of  both  parties,  deeming  that 
they  have  a  tendency  to  turn  an  election  into  a 
struggle  between  selfish  men  for  the  advantages 
of  office,  and  to  stifle  the  true  voice  of  the  people 
on  the  great  questions  before  them. 

Mr.  Sedgwick  died  on  the  6th  of  November, 
1839.  He  attended  on  that  day  a  meeting  of  his 
political  friends,  held  at  Pittsfield,  in  anticipation 
of  the  approaching  State  election.  At  the  close 
of  an  address,  marked  with  more  than  even  his 
wonted  earnestness  and  eloquence,  and  full  of  that 
moral  truth  which  distinguished  his  political  ad- 


24  THEODORE    8EDGWICK. 

dresses  from  those  of  most  other  men,  he  was 
smitten  with  an  apoplectic  stroke,  and  shortly 
afterwards  expired.  "  He  died,"  said  his  political 
friends,  "  with  his  harness  on ;"  but  all  metaphors 
drawn  from  the  cruel  art  of  war  are  inappropri- 
ate to  the  life  and  death  of  such  a  man.  Men  of 
all  parties  sorrowed  that  so  enlightened  an  intel- 
lect was  quenched  for  this  earth,  and  that  a 
heart  so  warm  with  the  love  of  his  fellow-crea- 
tures had  ceased  to  beat. 


25 


WILLIAM    DUNLAP. 

BY    JOHN    INMAN. 

WILLIAM  DUNLAP  was  born  at  Perth  Amboy,  in 
the  State,  then  Province,  of  New  Jersey,  on  the 
19th  of  February,  1766.  His  father,  Samuel  Dun- 
lap,  had  been  an  Irish  lieutenant  of  infantry,  and 
served  in  the  French  war ;  he  was  an  ensign  at  the 
battle  on  the  plains  of  Abraham,  where  he  bore 
the  colors  of  the  47th,  or  "Wolfe's  Own,"  regi- 
ment, and  was  wounded.  Subsequently  he  mar- 
ried at  Perth  Amboy,  and  resigned  his  commis- 
sion, preferring  the  solid  comforts  of  a  peaceful 
life  to  the  excitement  of  danger  and  the  fascina- 
tions of  military  glory. 

The  American  Revolution  commenced  when 
William  was  yet  a  mere  child,  and  the  distrac- 
tions and  commotions  by  which  it  was  preceded, 
as  well  as  attended,  left  but  little  opportunity  or 
means  for  the  education  of  one  whose  parents  oc- 
cupied a  station  so  near  the  centre  of  action.  He 
was  fortunate,  however,  in  attracting  the  notice 
of  an  old  gentleman,  somewhat  of  a  humorist, 
whose  moderately  well-furnished  library,  and 
cheerful,  instructive  conversation,  proved  greatly 
attractive  to  the  child,  and  supplied,  perhaps  more 
3 


26  WILLIAM    DUNLAP. 

than  supplied,  the  want  of  more  methodical  tui- 
tion. At  all  events,  in  his  frequent  visits  to  this 
early  friend  he  was  enabled  to  amuse  himself 
with  examining  volumes  that  contained  engra- 
vings, and  some  oil  paintings,  of  no  particular 
merit  perhaps,  but  sufficiently  glorious'for  the  un- 
critical eye  of  youth ;  and  thus  was  developed,  if 
not  generated,  that  taste  for  the  graphic  art  which 
in  after-years  was  to  make  the  boy  a  painter. 

When  he  was  about  nine  years  old  he  lost  this 
valuable  friend,  who,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and 
security,  removed  to  another  State  at  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  same 
event  induced  the  removal  of  Lieutenant  Dunlap, 
the  father,  to  New  York,  in  1777;  previous  to 
which,  however,  the  boy  had  seen  with  his  own 
eyes  a  specimen  of  the  brutalities  and  excesses 
that  follow  in  the  train  of  war,  as  well  as  some  of 
its  picturesque  effects. 

At  New  York  the  education  of  the  lad  was 
commenced,  selnn  les  regies,  but  it  was  soon  inter- 
rupted by  an  accident  which  deprived  him  of  one 
eye,  and  from  the  consequences  of  which  he  was 
long  in  recovering.  Books  and  pictures  were  his 
amusement  during  the  long  and  weary  hours  of 
illness,  and  to  these  were  added  implements  for 
drawing,  the  taste  beginning  to  manifest  itself  in 
action.  It  was  encouraged  also  by  the  engage- 
ment of  an  instructor  ;  but  his  lessons  were  not 
long  continued.  The  boy  imagined  himself  able 


WILLIAM    DUNLAP.  27 

to  take  portraits — probably  in  crayon — and,  re- 
ceiving applause  from  his  relatives  and  compa- 
nions, at  the  age  of  sixteen  began  to  work  at  a 
settled  price  and  for  all  comers.  His  price  was 
high,  considering  the  time  and  his  own  degree  of 
ability :  he  had  three  guineas  each  for  his  por- 
traits. 

In  1783  he  made  a  journey  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  visited  with  great  admiration  the  paint- 
jng-rooms  of  Charles  Wilson  Peale.  In  the  au- 
tumn of  the  same  year  he  passed  some  time  at 
Princeton,  where  the  Congress  was  then  in  session, 
and  at  Rocky  Hill,  the  head-quarters  of  General 
Washington.  At  the  latter  place  he  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  frequent  intercourse  with  the  illustri- 
ous founder  of  our  independence,  who  sat  to  him 
for  a  portrait,  which  is  still  in  existence.  He  also 
made  a  portrait  of  Mrs.,  or,  as  she  was  then  called, 
Lady  Washington.  He  was  present  at  the  evacu- 
ation of  New  York  by  the  British  forces,  in 
November,  1783,  and  soon  after  embarked  for 
England. 

His  first  oil  painting  was  done  in  1782 — a  fancy 
portrait  of  Admiral  Sir  Samuel  Hood,  for  a  sign ; 
his  second,  a  full-length  of  General  Washington, 
was  in  1783.  This  last  he  took  with  him  to  Lon- 
don, as  a  passport  to  the  rooms  of  Mr.  West,  who 
had  already  been  applied  to  in  his  behalf,  and  had 
consented  to  receive  him  as  a  pupil. 

Jn  June,  1784,  our  young  artist  arrived  in  Lon- 


28  WILLIAM    DUNLAP. 

don,  where  he  remained  until  August,  1787,  pass- 
ing his  time  chiefly,  according  to  his  own  account, 
in  the  pursuit  of  amusement,  and  accomplishing 
little  to  either  his  advantage  or  his  credit  as  a  stu- 
dent. His  bashfulness  prevented  him  from  profit- 
ing, as  he  should  have  done,  by  his  means  of  in- 
tercourse with  West,  and  the  temptations  of  the 
great  city  were  too  strong  for  a  young  man  of  20, 
amply  provided  with  money,  and  having  no  one 
near  him  to  guide  or  to  control  his  actions. 

On  his  return  to  New  York,  in  October,  1787, 
he  set  up  as  a  portrait  painter  by  profession,  but 
with  little  success,  and  soon  after  embarked  with 
his  father  in  trade.  Not  long  after  he  married  a 
Miss  Woolsey,  and  by  this  fortunate  connexion 
was  brought  into  associations  that  were  eminently 
profitable  to  him  in  the  formation  of  his  charac- 
ter, and  in  leading  him  to  better  pursuits  than  he 
had  been  engaged  in  following.  President  Dwight, 
of  Yale  College,  had  married  one  of  his  wife's  sis- 
ters, and  his  other  relatives  by  this  marriage  were 
men  of  character  and  standing. 

From  this  time  to  1805  he  abandoned  painting 
almost  entirely.  On  the  death  of  his  father  he 
emancipated  the  slaves  that  fell  to  him  as  part  of 
his  heritage  ;  subsequently  embarked  in  theatrical 
speculations,  which  proved  unfortunate ;  and  in 
1805  his  ruin  was  completed  by  the  default  of  the 
United  States  marshal  in  New  Jersey,  for  whom, 
he  had  become  security. 


WILLIAM    DUNLAP.  29 

Driven  to  the  practice  of  his  art  for  the  support 
of  his  family,  he  went  to  Boston  and  sought  em- 
ployment as  a  miniature  painter.  Employment 
came,  and  for  a  season  he  was  busy  and  content- 
ed. After  a  profitable  sojourn  at  Boston  he  went 
to  Washington,  and  arranged  his  debt  to  the  Go- 
vernment on  account  of  the  marshal.  Thence  he 
returned  to  his  family,  at  Perth  Amboy,  and  sup- 
posed himself  established  for  life  as  a  painter  of 
miniatures. 

A  speedy  change  took  place.  Thomas  A. 
Cooper,  then  of  high  reputation  as  a  tragedian, 
had  become  lessee  of  the  only  theatre  in  New 
York,  and  Dunlap  was  tempted  to  join  him  as 
stage  manager.  In  this  post  he  remained  until 
1812,  when  he  again  took  up  the  pencil,  and  at  the 
same  time  embarked  in  authorship.  He  wrote  a 
memoir  of  George  Frederick  Cooke,  and  another 
of  Charles  Brockden  Brown,  the  novelist ;  and  also 
commenced  a  periodical,  under  the  name  of  The 
Recorder.  This  failed,  and  once  more  he  devoted 
himself  to  painting,  having  now  added  portraits  in 
oil  to  his  miniature  practice. 

In  1814,  he  was  unexpectedly  appointed  assist- 
ant paymaster  of  the  New  York  militia,  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  United  States,  and  occupied  this  post 
until  1817,  when  he  again  became  a  painter,  at  the 
age  of  51.  From  this  time  until  the  autumn  of 
1819  he  remained  in  New  York,  painting  portraits 
with  great  industry,  and  making  decided  improve- 
3* 


30  WILLIAM    DUNLAP. 

ment.  At  this  time,  sitters  becoming  rare,  he 
made  a  professional  visit  to  Virginia,  and  passed 
the  winter  at  Norfolk,  where  he  did  exceedingly 
well.  The  summer  of  1820  he  spent  in  Quebec 
and  Montreal,  where  he  painted  a  goodly  number 
of  portraits,  and  as  winter  approached,  betook 
himself  again  to  New  York,  where  he  again  found 
sitters  numerous.  He  found  time,  however,  to 
make  a  study  for  a  great  picture,  copied,  without 
seeing  the  original,  from  the  "  Christ  Rejected"  of 
Benjamin  West ;  we  say  copied,  for  the  design 
was  made  from  the  published  descriptions  of  that 
work,  but  of  course  much  was  left  to  the  inven- 
tion of  the  imitator,  who  had  never  seen  the 
original. 

On  his  return  to  New  York,  in  the  summer  of 
1821,  he  devoted  himself,  with  much  ardor,  to  the 
accomplishment  of  this  great  work,  for  which  he 
had  no  better  painting-room  than  the  garret  of  his 
house,  of  course  very  badly  lighted  for  an  artist. 
He  worked  at  it  with  unabated  zeal  until  the  ap- 
proach of  winter,  when  he  again  proceeded  to  Vir- 
ginia, taking  his  great  canvas  with  him,  and  there 
finished  it.  At  Norfolk  it  was  exhibited  with  en- 
couraging success,  and  subsequently  at  Philadel- 
phia, Boston,  Portland,  and  New  York.  Artists 
praised  it  with  discriminating  kindness,  and  the 
public  bestowed  upon  it  so  much  attention  that 
Mr.  Dunlap,  finding  little  to  do  in  portraits,  began 
to  think  of  other  large  pictures,  and  of  deriving  a 


WILLIAM    DUNLAP.  31 

snfficient  income  from  their  exhibition.  He  com- 
menced a  second,  "  The  Bearing  of  the  Cross," 
which  was  finished  in  the  autumn  of  1824 ;  and  in 
1825  he  painted  a  study,  or  sketch,  for  a  third 
large  picture,  which  he  called  "  Calvary."  In  the 
summer  he  began  upon  the  large  canvas,  but  be- 
fore he  had  made  any  great  progress,  he  com- 
menced a  fourth,  partly  composed  and  partly 
copied  from  West's  "  Death  on  the  Pale  Horse," 
which  was  ready  for  exhibition  in  the  fall,  only 
two  months  and  twenty-six  days  intervening  be- 
tween the  commencement  of  the  outline  and  the 
completion  of  the  picture ;  a  great  display  of  in- 
dustry in  a  man  of  60. 

From  this  time  until  the  spring  of  1828  he 
worked  at  intervals  upon  the  "Calvary" — wrote 
some  occasional  pieces  for  the  Bowery  Theatre — 
and  painted  several  portraits,  among  the  best  of 
which  was  a  small  full-length  of  his  friend,  Mr. 
Hackett,  the  comedian,  in  one  of  his  Yankee 
characters.  The  means  of  subsistence  were  de- 
rived chiefly  from  the  exhibition  of  the  Christ  Re- 
jected, the  Bearing  of  the  Cross,  and  the  Death  on 
the  Pale  Horse,  which  were  travelling  all  over 
the  country,  with  varying,  but,  on  the  whole,  rea- 
sonable success.  To  use  Mr.  Dunlap's  own  ex- 
pressions, "  at  one  place  a  picture  would  be  put  up 
in  a  church,  and  a  sermon  preached  in  recommen- 
dation of  it ;  at  another,  the  people  would  be  told 
from  the  pulpit  to  avoid  it  as  blasphemous ;  in 


32  WILLIAM    DUNLAP. 

another,  the  agent  is  seized  for  violating  the  law 
taxing  poppet-shows ;  and  when  on  his  way  to  a 
fourth,  he  is  brought  back  by  constables,  like  a 
criminal,  and  obliged  to  pay  the  tax  and  their 
charges  for  making  him  a  prisoner.  Here  the 
agent  would  be  encouraged  by  the  first  people  of 
the  place,  and  treated  by  the  clergy  as  if  he  were 
a  saint ;  and  there,  received  as  a  mountebank  and 
insulted  by  a  mob." 

In  the  spring  of  1828  the  Calvary  was  finished 
and  exhibited.  He  considered  it  his  best  compo- 
sition, and  the  opinion  is  probably  just.  In  the 
winter  of  1830  he  got  up  a  hasty  picture  of  the 
"  Attack  on  the  Louvre"  in  the  French  Revolution 
of  that  year,  but  its  exhibition  had  no  success. 
He  also  wrote  and  delivered  lectures  to  the  stu- 
dents of  the  National  Academy.  In  the  course 
of  the  next  winter  he  lectured  on  the  fine  arts 
before  the  Mercantile  Library  Association,  and 
again  to  the  students  of  the  Academy ;  he  also 
gave  public  lectures  on  the  subjects  of  his  pictures, 
then  collected  in  the  gallery  of  Clinton  Hall,  and 
made  some  profit  by  the  exhibition.  He  had  oc- 
casionally some  portraits  to  paint,  but  his  pecu- 
niary circumstances  were  by  no  means  flourish- 
ing ;  and  as  age  and  sickness  came  upon  him,  he 
would  have  suffered  much  from  poverty  but  for 
the  kindness  and  generosity  of  the  many  friends 
he  had  secured  by  his  talents,  his  amiable  dispo- 
sition, and  his  probity.  He  had  been  engaged  for 


WILMAM    DUNLAP.  33 

some  years  upon  a  History  of  the  American 
Stage,  which  was  published  by  subscription  in 
November,  1832,  and  yielded  him  a  handsome 
remuneration.  In  1833,  a  festival  benefit  at  the 
Park  Theatre  was  got  up  for  him,  the  proceeds 
of  which  were  more  than  $2500. 

This  timely  addition  to  his  resources  enabled 
him  to  complete  a  work  for  which  he  had  long 
been  collecting  materials — his  History  of  the  Rise 
and  Progress  of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  the  United 
States,  in  two  volumes  octavo,  published,  also  by 
subscription,  in  1834:  a  most  valuable  work,  and 
highly  creditable  to  his  talents  and  industry.  He 
subsequently  published  a  novel,  entitled  "  The 
Cold- Water  Man,"  and  an  excellent  compend  of 
the  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the 
use  of  schools.  He  was  engaged  upon  a  larger 
history  of  the  same  State,  when  he  was  carried 
off  by  an  attack  of  paralysis  on  23d  September, 
1839,  at  the  age  of  73.  The  history  was  pub- 
lished after  his  death. 

Mr.  Dunlap  was  in  all  respects  an  estimable 
man.  If  he  had  little  genius,  its  want  was  perhaps 
more  than  supplied  by  good  natural  abilities,  sound 
judgment,  and  unwearied  industry.  His  modesty 
of  speech  and  deportment  was  remarkable,  and 
it  was  accompanied  by  great  amenity  of  temper 
and  goodness  of  heart.  In  conversation  he  was 
most  interesting,  upon  general  subjects,  as  well  as 
upon  those  more  especially  relating  to  his  art. 


34  WILLIAM    DUNLAP. 

Eminently  patient,  and  even  cheerful,  under  afflic- 
tion, his  rich  stores  of  anecdote  were  ever  at  the 
service  of  his  companions  in  the  social  circle,  yet 
he  was  always  more  ready  to  listen  than  to  speak. 
For  works  of  benevolence  he  was  at  all  times 
prompt,  according  to  his  ability ;  and  his  grati- 
tude for  kindness  was  at  once  deep,  unobtrusive, 
and  dignified.  His  associations  through  a  long 
life  were  chiefly  with  the  distinguished  men  of  his 
time,  and  among  such  perhaps  no  man  ever  had 
warmer  friends.  In  his  heart  there  seemed  no 
place  for  envy.  If  he  had  no  claim  to  the  title  of 
great,  all  conceded  to  him  that  of  good  ;  and  if  he 
was  not  illustrious,  none  will  deny  that  in  his 
sphere,  and  up  to  the  measure  of  his  ability,  he 
was  honorably  useful, 


35 


B.  B.  THACHER. 

BENJAMIN  B.  THACHER  was  a  native  of  the  State 
of  Maine,  where  his  father  long  enjoyed  a  high 
standing  at  the  bar,  and  was  for  several  years  a 
member  of  Congress.  In  early  life,  Mr.  Thacher 
gave  evidence  of  an  active  and  inquiring  mind, 
and  during  his  academic  career,  was  noted 
for  literary  ability.  He  was  graduated  at  Bow- 
doin  College  in  1826,  and  immediately  commenc- 
ed the  study  of  law.  With  a  view  of  com- 
pleting his  professional  studies,  he  soon  after  re- 
moved to  Boston,  Mass.  Here  his  taste  for 
literature  divided  his  attention  with  legal  pursuits, 
and  after  being  admitted  to  practice,  his  pen  was 
constantly  devoted  to  the  leading  periodicals  of 
the  day,  the  preparation  of  popular  lectures,  and 
for  several  years  to  the  editorship  of  a  daily 
journal.  Of  a  philanthropic  spirit,  his  time  and 
talents  were  largely  given  to  the  benevolent  en- 
terprises of  the  day.  He  had  especially  at  heart 
the  cause  of  African  colonization,  the  Temperance 
reform,  and  the  claims  of  the  Aborigines.  His 
interest  in  the  latter  subject  gave  birth  to  his 
most  elaborate  literary  production — an  Indian 
Biography,  prepared  with  great  research  and  em- 
bodying numerous  interesting  aboriginal  memoirs. 


36  BENJAMIN    B.    THACHER. 

This  work  was  published  by  Harper  &,  Brothers, 
and  constitutes  two  volumes  of  their  Family  Li- 
brary. It  at  once  established  the  author's  repu- 
tation. He  subsequently  prepared  two  other 
volumes,  entitled  Indian  Traits,  which  was  pub- 
lished by  the  same  house.  For  a  period  of  ten 
years,  Mr.  Thacher  was  a  voluminous  contribu- 
tor to  the  Magazines  and  Reviews  of  the  day,  and 
these  occupations  gradually  withdrew  him  from 
the  practice  of  law  to  the  exclusive  pursuit  of 
literature.  Several  of  his  poems  and  lectures 
were  deservedly  popular.  Habits  of  unremit- 
ting application  made  such  inroads  upon  his 
health,  that  in  the  autumn  of  1838  he  was  induced 
to  try  the  effects  of  an  European  tour.  The 
greater  part  of  two  years  was  passed  in  England, 
where  his  articles  in  some  of  the  leading  literary 
journals  were  very  favorably  received.  He  re- 
turned, however,  with  the  symptoms  of  his  dis- 
ease much  aggravated,  and  after  lingering  several 
months,  expired  on  the  14th  of  July,  1840,  at  the 
age  of  31.  His  persevering  industry  and  excel- 
lent character  gave  promise  of  extensive  useful- 
ness :  and  his  early  death  was  widely  lamented. 


SS'J-' 


,      I'VlllK'll     I' 


37 


JESSE   BUEL. 

BY    PROFESSOR   AMOS    DEAN. 

JESSE  BUEL  was  born  at  Coventry,  in  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  on  the  4th  day  of  January,  1778. 
From  early  boyhood  he  seems  to  have  had  the 
direction  of  his  own  course,  his  parents  wisely 
leaving  to  his  own  disposition  and  inclinations  the 
choice  of  that  which  should  mainly  constitute  the 
business  of  his  life.  When  he  had  arrived  at  the 
age  of  twelve  years,  the  family,  including  himself, 
moved  from  Coventry  to  Rutland,  Vermont ;  and 
two  years  afterwards,  when  he  had  completed 
the  age  of  fourteen,  he  became  an  apprentice  to 
the  printing  business  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Lyons,  of 
Rutland.  The  first  four  years  of  his  term  were 
distinguished  by  a  close,  assiduous,  and  unremit- 
ted  attention  to  the  attainment  of  the  printing  art. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  he  succeeded  in  purchas- 
ing of  Mr.  Lyons  the  unexpired  three  years,  of 
his  regular  term,  and  thus  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
was  enabled  to  exchange  the  apprentice  for  the 
journeyman.  He  went  immediately  to  the  city 
of  New  York,  where  he  labored  as  a  journeyman 
during  the  desolating  ravages  of  the  yellow  fever. 
In  June,  1797,  he  formed  a  connexion  in  business 
4 


38  JESSE    BUEL. 

with  Mr.  Moffit,  of  Troy,  and  commenced  the 
publication  of  the  Troy  Budget.  In  September, 
1801,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  married  Miss 
Susan  Pierce,  of  Troy,  and  immediately  removed 
to  Poughkeepsie,  where,  in  connexion  with  Mr. 
Joiner,  he  commenced  the  publication  of  a  weekly 
paper  called  the  Guardian.  He  afterward,  in 
connexion  with  another,  published  the  Political 
Banner.  This  last  proved  to  be  an  unfortunate 
business  connexion ;  and  after  about  a  year's  con- 
tinuance, either  through  the  mismanagement  or 
dishonesty  of  his  partner,  he  found  himself  reduced 
to  utter  bankruptcy. 

In  this  reduced  condition,  he  did  not,  like  too 
many,  yield  himself  up  to  fatal  despondency  ;  but, 
with  the  unshaken  assurance  of  success  which 
naturally  results  from  the  firm  determination  to 
deserve  it,  he  went  forward,  never  for  one  mo- 
ment losing  confidence  in  the  general  integrity  of 
men,  or  in  the  ultimate  success  of  industry  and 
application.  He  left  Poughkeepsie  and  removed 
to  Kingston,  Ulster  county,  where  he  commenced, 
and  for  ten  years  continued  to  edit,  a  weekly 
paper  called  the  Plebeian. 

In  1813,  Judge  Buel  removed  to  Albany  and 
commenced  the  Albany  Argus.  In  1814  he  was 
appointed  printer  to  the  State,  the  duties  of  which, 
together  with  the  editorship  of  the  Argus,  he  con- 
tinued to  discharge  until  the  year  1820,  at  which 
time  he  sold  out,  with  the  determination  to  aban- 


JESSE    DUEL.  39 

don  the  printing  business.  While  engaged  in  that 
business  he  always  performed  himself  the  labor 
essential  to  its  successful  prosecution.  He  was 
always  the  setter  of  his  own  types,  and,  until  he 
came  to  Albany,  the  worker  of  his  own  press. 

After  disposing  of  his  printing  establishment 
and  business,  he  purchased  a  farm  of  eighty-five 
acres  of  land  near  the  city  of  Albany,  which  he 
converted  from  "  sandy  barrens"  into  what  has 
long  been  extensively  and  favorably  known  as  the 
"Albany  Nursery."  While  residing  on  his  farm, 
since  1821,  he  has  several  times  represented  the 
city  and  county  of  Albany  in  the  popular  branch 
of  the  New  York  Legislature ;  has  been  for  seve- 
ral years,  and  was  at  the  time  of  his  death,  a  Re- 
gent of  the  University;  and  in  the  fall  of  1836 
received  the  Whig  support  as  their  candidate  for 
the  office  of  Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
York. 

The  political  doctrines  of  Judge  Buel  were 
plain  and  practical.  He  held  that  office,  instead 
of  being  made  for  men,  should  be  made  by  them  ; 
that  it  conferred  far  less  privileges  than  it  imposed 
duties ;  that  it  was  a  trust  reposed,  and  its  incum- 
bent a  trustee,  and  responsible  for  the  proper  per- 
formance of  the  trust ;  and  that  it  was  no  farther 
honorable  than  as  an  indication  of  trust  and  confi- 
dence on  the  part  of  those  whose  intelligence  and 
moral  worth  were  the  vouchers  for  its  value. 

It  is,  however,  the  agricultural  labors  of  Judge 


40  JESSE    BUEL. 

Buel  that  have  been  the  most  extensively  valuable 
to  the  largest  classes  of  the  community.  He 
adopted  and  strongly  enforced  the  new  system  of 
agriculture,  which  consists  mainly  in  sustaining 
and  strengthening  the  soil,  while  its  productive 
qualities  are  put  into  requisition ;  in  rendering  the 
farm  every  year  more  valuable,  by  annually  in- 
creasing both  its  products  and  its  power  of  pro- 
ducing,— and  this  is  accomplished  chiefly  by  ma- 
nuring, by  draining,  by  good  tillage,  by  alterna- 
ting crops,  by  root  culture,  and  by  the  substitution 
of  fallow  crops  for  naked  fallows. 

In  1834  he  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
paper  so  long  and  well  known  as  "  The  Cultiva- 
tor" which,  from  a  cheap,  small  sheet,  possessing 
a  limited  circulation,  became,  shortly  previous  to 
his  death,  much  enlarged,  its  subscription  price 
increased,  and  the  number  of  its  subscribers  ex- 
tended to  twenty-three  thousand. 

The  motto  adopted  for  his  Cultivator,  and  which 
he  fully  carried  into  practice,  was,  "To  improve 
the  soil,  and  the  mind."  In  his  view,  all  the  enjoy- 
ments of  mere  physical  Qxistence  were  possessed 
of  but  little  real  value  when  unaccompanied  by 
the  higher  delights  of  a  mental  being.  His  sys- 
tem of  education,  however,  like  his  system  of  ag- 
riculture, was  eminently  practical ;  and  like  that, 
too,  it  would  endeavor  to  strengthen  the  produ- 
cing power,  while  it  developed  its  products.  He 
would  guide  the  effort  of  muscle  by  the  direction 


JESSE    BUEL.  41 

of  mind.  While  cultivating  the  land,  he  would 
enjoy  the  landscape ;  while  caging  the  bird,  he 
would  not  be  insensible  to  its  music.  He  taught 
men  that  agricultural  prosperity  resulted  neither 
from  habit  nor  chance ;  that  success  was  subject 
to  the  same  law  in  this  as  in  other  departments  of 
industry,  and  before  it  could  be  secured,  must  be 
deserved  ;  that  mind,  intellectual  power,  and  moral 
purpose,  constituted  as  essential  parts  in  the  ele- 
ments of  agricultural  prosperity  as  of  any  other ; 
and  all  these  truths  he  enforced  by  precept,  and 
illustrated  by  practice. 

But  his  career  of  usefulness  was  fast  arriving 
at  its  termination.  While  on  his  way  to  Norwich 
and  New  Haven  he  was  seized  with  the  bilious 
cholic  at  Danbury,  Connecticut,  on  Saturday  night, 
the  22d  September,  1839.  About  three  days  after 
this  attack  a  bilious  fever  supervened,  under  which 
he  continued  gradually  to  decline  until  the  after- 
noon of  the  6th  of  October,  when,  after  faintly  ut- 
tering the  name  of  his  absent  companion,  with 
whom  he  had  shared  the  toils,  and  troubles,  and 
triumphs  of  almost  forty  years,  he  calmly,  and 
without  a  groan  or  a  struggle,  cancelled  the  debt 
which  his  birth  had  created,  and  "  yielded  up  his 
spirit  to  God,  who  gave  it."  He  died  in  the  field 
of  his  labors  ;  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness ;  in 
the  full  maturity  of  his  mental  faculties. 

The  character  and  general  habit  of  his  mind 
was  in  the  highest  degree  practical.  The  value 
4* 


42  JESSE    BUEL. 

and  importance  he  attached  to  a  thing,  were  de- 
duced from  his  estimate  of  its  uses  ;  and  those  uses 
consisted  of  the  number  and  importance  of  the 
applications  \vhich  he  perceived  could  be  made 
of  it  to  the  common  purposes  of  life.  He  regard- 
ed life  as  being  more  made  up  of  daily  duties  than 
of  remarkable  events ;  and  his  estimate  of  the 
value  of  a  principle,  or  proposed  plan  of  opera- 
tions, was  derived  from  the  extent  to  which  ap- 
plication could  be  made  of  it  to  life's  every-day 
matters. 

As  a  writer,  Judge  Buel's  merit  consists  simply 
in  his  telling,  in  plain  language,  just  the  thing  he 
thought.  He  seemed  neither  to  expect  or  desire 
that  his  communications  would  possess  with  other 
minds  any  more  weight  than  the  ideas  contained 
in  them  would  justly  entitle  them  to.  With  him 
words  meant  things,  and  not  simply  their  shadows. 
He  came  to  the  common  mind  like  an  old  familiar 
acquaintance ;  and  although  he  brought  to  it  new 
ideas,  yet  they  consisted  in  conceptions  clearly 
comprehensible  in  themselves,  and  conveyed  in 
the  plainest  and  most  intelligible  terms. 

His  writings  are  principally  to  be  found  in  the 
many  addresses  he  has  delivered ;  in  the  six  vol- 
umes of  his  Cultivator;  in  the  small  volume  (made 
up,  however,  principally  or  entirely  from  materi- 
als taken  from  the  Cultivator,)  published  by  the 
Harpers,  of  New  York ;  and  in  the  "  Farmer's 
Companion,"  the  last  and  most  perfect  of  his 


JESSE   BUEL.  43 

works,  published  under  the  auspices  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Board  of  Education,  and  constituting 
one  of  the  numbers  of  the  second  series  of  their 
truly  invaluable  District  School  Library. 

The  example  of  Judge  Buel,  as  well  as  his 
works,  affords  much  practical  instruction.  There 
is  hardly  a  situation  or  condition  in  life  to  which 
some  incident,  event,  or  portion  of  his  existence 
does  not  apply  with  peculiar  force  and  afford 
great  encouragement. 

To  the  wealthy,  those  who  by  successful  indus- 
try have  accumulated  competent  fortunes,  it  teach- 
es the  salutary  lesson,  that  continued  happiness 
can  only  be  secured  by  continued  industry ;  that 
the  highly  gifted  mind  must  feel  a  responsibility 
for  the  legitimate  exercise  of  its  powers  ;  and  that, 
when  the  requisite  capacity  is  possessed,  the  one 
can  be  the  most  effectually  secured,  and  the  other 
satisfied,  by  communicating  to  other  minds  the  re- 
sults of  a  long  experience,  of  much  varied  obser- 
vation and  accumulated  knowledge,  and  many  ori- 
ginal and  profound  reflections  upon  men  and  things. 

To  those  who  have  sustained  losses,  been  un- 
fortunate in  business,  and  had  the  slow  accumula- 
tions of  years  suddenly  swept  away  by  accident, 
misfortune,  or  fraud,  it  teaches  the  important  truth, 
that 

"In  the  Lexicon  of  youth,  which  fate  reserves 
For  a  bright  manhood,  there  is  no  such  word 
As  FAIL  ;" 


44  JESSE   DUEL. 

that  undaunted  resolution,  rigid  economy,  close 
calculation,  prudent  management,  aided  by  re- 
newed application,  and  well-directed,  persever- 
ing industry,  can  never  fail,  except  in  cases  very 
uncommon,  to  retrieve  their  circumstances,  re- 
store their  condition,  and,  by  the  excellent  habits 
they  create,  to  send  them  forward  on  the  mutable 
course  of  life,  with  fresh  assurance,  renewed  hope, 
and  more  confident  anticipations. 

To  the  youth  who  has  just  commenced  thread- 
ing the  devious  paths  of  young  existence,  who  is 
beginning  to  open  his  senses  and  his  faculties  to 
the  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  the  aliment 
with  which  God  has  furnished  them,  it  speaks  a 
language  at  once  impressive  and  inviting.  It  pre- 
sents the  instance  of  one  from  among  them,  born 
in  poverty,  having  all  the  hardships,  obstacles,  and 
disadvantages  so  frequently  occurring  in  early  life 
to  contend  with,  with  no  other  inheritance  than  a 
sound  mind  in  a  sound  body,  working  his  way 
onward  and  upward,  to  the  esteem,  respect,  and 
confidence  of  his  fellow-men.  There  have  been 
no  peculiarly  favorable  combinations  of  circum- 
stances to  contribute  to  his  progress  and  advance- 
ment. No  miracle  has  been  wrought  in  his  favor, 
nor  acts  of  magic  enlisted  in  his  aid.  Nothing 
whatever  has  contributed  to  remove  his  case  out 
of  the  empire  of  that  same  cause  and  effect  in 
subjection  to  which  all  the  phenomena  of  life  are 
evolved.  It  is  the  obvious  case  of  distinction  and 


JESSE    BUEL.  45 

a  high  reputation,  acquired  and  earned  by  the 
most  persevering  industry,  the  most  scrupulous 
regard  for  right,  the  exercise  of  superior  intellect, 
the  practice  of  every  virtue  ;  and  its  plain,  practi- 
cal language  to  the  youth  of  our  land  is — "  Go 
thou  and  do  likewise.  You  are  supported  by  the 
same  soil,  overhung  by  the  same  heavens,  sur- 
rounded by  the  same  classes  of  objects,  and  sub- 
jected to  the  action  of  the  same  all-pervading 
laws.  Would  you  possess  the  same  good  ?  Ac- 
quire it  by  a  resort  to  similar  means." 

To  all,  it  addresses  a  consoling  language,  in  the 
fact  that  we  here  see  industry  recompensed ;  un- 
obtrusive merit  rewarded ;  intellectual  action  ac- 
complishing its  objects  ;  high  moral  worth  appre- 
ciated ;  and  the  unostentatious  virtues  of  a  life 
held  in  due  esteem,  respect,  and  consideration. 
This  tends  to  create  a  strong  confidence  in  the 
benignity  of  the  laws  that  regulate  human  affairs  ; 
to  inspire  a  higher  degree  of  respect  and  reve- 
rence for  the  constituent  elements  of  human  na- 
ture ;  and  to  give  birth  to  that  sentiment  strongly 
embodied  in  the  language — God,  I  thank  Thee  that 
I  am  a  man. 


46 


JUDGE  WHITE. 

BT  HORACE  GREELET. 

UGH  LAWSON  WHITE,  the  eminent  jurist  and 
statesman  of  Tennessee,  was  born  in  Iredell 
County,  North  Carolina,  in  the  year  1773.  His 
father,  James  White,  removed  from  that  section 
in  1786,  and  settled  in  what  is  now  Knox  county, 
ast  Tennessee,  but  which  was  then  within  the 
chartered  limits  of  North  Carolina,  and  familiarly 
known  as  the  wilderness  !  In  1792,  Hugh,  then  a 
stripling  of  nineteen,  volunteered  to  act  as  a  pri- 
vate in  the  defence  of  the  exposed  settlements  of 
the  West,  against  the  hostilities  of  their  savage 
neighbors,  and  served  through  the  campaign  with 
credit  and  efficiency. 

Prior  to  1800,  the  facilities  for  learning,  west  of 
the  Mountains,  were  limited  indeed,  and  young 
White  here  acquired  but  the  common  rudiments 
of  an  English  education.  In  1794-5,  however, 
he  visited  Philadelphia,  where  he  completed  a 
course  of  mathematical  study,  preparatory  to  a 
professional  life;  and  in  1795  he  devoted  some 
months  to  the  study  of  the  law,  in  the  office  of 
James  Hopkins,  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania.  Re- 
urning  to  Tennessee  in  1796,  he  immediately 


JUDGE  WHITE.  47 

commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  at  Knox- 
ville. 

Although  the  foundation  thus  laid  may  well 
seem  a  slight  and  imperfect  one,  yet,  in  truth, 
young  White  possessed  in  himself — in  his  intrinsic 
and  early  developed  characteristics — the  elements 
of  a  legal  career,  leading  through  success  to 
eminence.  In  his  character,  a  patient,  indefatiga- 
ble industry  and  steadiness  of  effort  were  com- 
bined with  a  calm  self-possession,  and  a  mental 
acuteness  rarely  surpassed.  Clear-headed,  logi- 
cal, and  self-relying,  he  had  early  resolved  on  the 
attainment  of  distinction  and  fame  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  he  inflexibly,  ardently  pursued  the  strait 
and  narrow  path  which  led  to  the  goal  of  his 
ambition.  But  the  qualities  which  most  com- 
mended him  to  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his 
fellow  citizens,  were  an  unbending  uprightness 
and  integrity  of  character,  blended  with  a  purity 
of  motive  and  of  life,  which  were  so  eminently 
displayed,  and  so  consistently  maintained,  through 
the  temptations  and  vicissitudes  of  a  long  and 
eventful  life,  that  in  after-years  they  passed  into 
a  proverb  ;  and  not  only  in  his  own  State,  but 
measurably  throughout  the  South-West,  Hugh 
L.  White  was  familiarly  compared  to  Aristides, 
and  reverently  regarded  as  the  Cato  of  the  Re- 
public. 

Such  a  man,  however  unaspiring,  would  not 
long  escape  the  public  honors  and  testimonials  of 


48  JUDGE  WHITE. 

confidence  of  a  people  as  virtuous,  and  as  little 
distracted  or  blinded  by  party  animosities,  as 
were  the  citizens  of  Tennessee  forty  years  ago. 
n  1801,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-eight,  Mr. 
White  was  appointed  a  justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  that  State,  and  continued  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  that  station  until  1807. 
In  1808,  he  was  appointed  by  President  Jefferson 
a  United  States'  District  Attorney  ;  and  in  1809, 
elected  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  where  he 
distinguished  himself  by  his  active  agency  in 
•modifying  and  improving  the  land  laws  of  Ten- 
nessee. About  this  time  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  was  remodeled  and  re-established,  and,  dur- 
ing his  absence  from  the  seat  of  government,  he 
was  again  placed  on  the  Bench.  He  immediately 
relinquished  all  other  public  employments,  to  re- 
sume one  so  congenial  with  his  tastes  and  acquire- 
ments, and  for  six  years  he  discharged  the  duties 
of  that  station  with  unsurpassed  ability,  and  to 
universal  acceptation.  His  reported  opinions  are 
regarded  by  the  profession  as  evincing  great 
strength  and  perspicuity  of  reasoning  ;  and  his 
eminence  as  a  jurist  is  attested  by  the  familiar 
fact,  that,  after  he  had  abandoned  the  Bench  for 
more  exciting  and  conspicuous  theatres  of  public 
duty  and  exertion,  he  was  still  universally  known 
as  '  Judge  White,'  through  all  the  mutations  of  an 
eventful  quarter  of  a  century. 

In  1815,  Judge  White  resigned  his  seat  on  the 


JUDGE  WHITE.  49 

Bench,  and  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  State 
Bank  of  Tennessee,  of  which  institution  he  re- 
mained at  the  head  for  a  number  of  years.  Under 
his  wise  and  judicious  counsels  the  Bank  pros- 
pered abundantly  and  contributed  powerfully  to 
develope  the  resources  and  advance  the  pros- 
perity of  the  State.  No  moneyed  institution  was 
ever  more  deservedly  popular.  During  his  pre- 
sidency, he  was  again,  (in  1820,)  elected  to  the 
State  Senate ;  and  about  the  same  time  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Monroe  one  of  the  com- 
missioners to  adjust  the  claims  of  our  citizens  on 
Spain,  for  the  satisfaction  of  which  provisions 
had  been  made  by  a  recent  treaty.  He  accepted 
the  appointment,  and  discharged  its  duties  with 
his  accustomed  fidelity  ;  but  refused  to  accept  the 
extravagant  compensation  to  which  the  commis- 
sioners were  entitled.  At  another  time  he  was 
chosen  a  commissioner  to  settle  important  land 
claims,  which  were  in  dispute  between  Virginia 
and  Kentucky,  and  acted  with  equal  ability  and 
acceptance. 

In  1825,  he  was  unanimously  elected  a  Senator 
of  the  United  States,  to  which  station  he  was  re- 
elected  with  entire  unanimity  in  1831,  and  again 
in  1837.  It  was  in  the  capacity  of  Senator  that 
he  first  became  prominent  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Union. 

Judge  White  took  a  high  stand  in  the  Senate, 
from  the  date  of  his  appearance  on  its  floor.  To 
5 


50  JUDGE    WHITE. 

the  presidential  elevation  of  his  old  friend  and 
-predecessor,  General  Jackson,  he  gave  a  steady 
and  efficient  support.  He  shared  in  the  triumph 
of  1828,  but  refused,"at  that  and  all  subsequent 
times,  to  take  office  under  the  federal  government, 
prefering  to  serve  in  the  station  to  which  the  peo- 
ple of  Tennessee  had  elected  him.  He  held  the 
important  post  of  chairman  of  the  Senate's  com- 
mittee on  Indian  affairs,  and  as  such  was  required 
to  defend  and  sustain  the  new  Administration  at 
the  point  most  exposed  to  attack,  and  most  diffi- 
cult to  defend.  During  the  early  years  of  Gene- 
ral Jackson's  administration,  before  the  bank  con- 
troversy had  overborne  all  remoter  considerations, 
the  Indian  policy  of  the  government  was  the 
chief  ground  of  attack  from  the  Opposition.  That 
policy  differed  from  the  maxims  of  all  preceding 
executives,  in  that  it  affirmed  the  absolute  sove- 
reignty of  each  State  in  the  Union  within  its 
chartered  limits,  and  the  consequent  nullity  of 
every  law  or  treaty  of  the  United  States  which 
should  stipulate  or  promise  any  thing  conflicting 
with  that  sovereignty.  Of  course,  all  the  treaties 
by  which  '  the  United  States  solemnly  guarantee 
"to  the  Cherokees  [or  other  tribe]  all  their  lands 
not  hereby  ceded,'  &c.  &c.,  were  held  to  contra- 
vene the  rights  of  the  States,  and  to  be  therefore 
null  and  void.  This  doctrine  was  enforced  by 
Judge  White  in  his  reports  and  speeches  with 
great  logical  acuteness,  and  in  spite  of  a  conflict- 


JUDGE    WHITE.  51 

ing  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  it  became, 
through  the  assent  of  Congress  and  the  acquies- 
cence of  the  country,  practically  the  law  of  the 
land.  Judge  White's  support  of  the  Administra- 
tion through  this  crisis  was  most  earnest  and 
efficient.  Through  the  protracted  and  violent 
bank  controversy,  down  to  the  full  consummation 
of  the  original  state  bank  deposite  scheme,  Mr. 
White  continued  a  powerful,  though  not  conspic- 
uous, or  vehement,  supporter  of  the  Administra- 
tion. 

In  1833,  the  storm  having  subsided,  and  the 
selection  of  a  new  president  beginning  now  to 
attract  attention,  the  Tennessee  delegation  in 
Congress,  with  the  possible  exception  of  his  col- 
league, Mr.  Grundy,  united  in  recommending 
Judge  White  to  the  people  as  a  candidate  to  suc- 
ceed General  Jackson :  Messrs.  Polk  and  Cave 
Johnson  afterwards  dissented,  but  not  when  the 
nomination  was  made.  The  legislature  of  Ala- 
bama— strongly  Jackson — concurred  in  the  recom- 
mendation by  a  large  majority.  But  the  '  Demo- 
cratic National  Convention,'  which  assembled  at 
Baltimore  in  May,  1836,  nominated  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren  as  the  candidate  of  the  party ;  the  Opposition 
in  most  of  the  States  united  upon  General  Harri- 
son ;  and  the  defeat  of  Judge  White,  should  he 
continue  a  candidate,  became  a  matter  of  obvious 
certainty.  His  personal  friends  refused,  however, 
to  permit  his  withdrawal  from  the  canvass,  and 


52  JUDGE    WHITE. 

he  was  respectably  supported  in  the  southern 
States  generally,  receiving  the  votes  of  Tennessee 
and  Georgia,  and  failing  to  obtain  those  of  North 
Carolina  by  a  little  over  two  thousand,  and  of 
Mississippi  and  Louisiana,  some  two  or  three 
hundreds  each.  During  the  canvass,  he  was  for 
a  third  time  elected  a  senator  of  the  United  States 
from  Tennessee  ;  and  at  this,  as  at  both  preced- 
ing elections,  the  vote  was  unanimously  cast  in 
his  favor. 

Judge  White  continued  in  the  Senate  until  the 
session  of  1839-40,  pursuing  a  moderate,  indepen- 
dent course,  but  opposing  the  expunging  resolution, 
the  Sub-Treasury,  and  other  measures  to  which 
his  convictions  were  hostile.  Although  his  locks 
were  whitened  by  the  frosts  of  age,  and  his  health 
enfeebled,  yet  his  mind  remained  as  active  and 
vigorous  as  ever,  his  influence  in  the  public  coun- 
cils was  undiminished,  and  his  zeal  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  public  duties  unabated. 

But  a  revolution  in  politics  approached,  which 
was  destined  to  be  felt  even  by  him.  In  1839, 
James  K.  Polk,  one  of  the  ablest  men  and  most 
powerful  speakers  in  the  south-west,  took  the'field 
as  the  Administration  (Van  Buren)  candidate  for 
Governor ;  and,  after  a  canvass  of  unprecedented 
vehemence,  in  which  he  proved  himself  an  over- 
match, both  in  speaking  talent  and  in  personal  ad- 
dress and  popularity,  for  his  opponent,  Governor 
Cannon,  he  was  elected  by  some  twenty-five  hun- 


JUDGE    WHITE.  53 

dred  majority,  with  a  Legislature  of  kindred  poli- 
tics. One  of  the  earliest,  as  well  as  most  impor- 
tant acts  of  that  Legislature,  was  the  passage  of  a 
series  of  resolutions,  instructing  the  senators  from 
that  State,  (Messrs.  White  and  Foster,)  to  support 
the  Sub-Treasury,  the  Expunging  process,  and  sus-  ^ 
tain  the  measures  generally  of  the  Administration. 
Upon  the  receipt  of  these  resolutions,  Judge 
White  read  to  the  Senate  a  paper  setting  forth  the 
reasons  which  must  constrain  him  to  decline  a  f 
compliance  with  their  commands.  This  is  a  doc- 
ument of  great  ability,  and  produced  a  powerful 
impression  upon  the  Senate  and  the  nation.  Im- 
mediately upon  the  conclusion  of  its  reading, 
Judge  White  (with  his  colleague)  resigned  the 
seat  which  he  had  now  held  with  signal  ability  / 
and  honor  for  some  sixteen  successive  years,  and 
sat  out  in  feeble  health  on  his  return  to  Tennessee. 
He  incidentally  remarked  to  a  friend,  just  before 
starting,  that  he  did  not  expect  to  live  to  see 
Washington  again.  His  apprehension  proved  too 
well  founded.  The  fatigue  and  inclemency  of  a 
journey  in  mid-winter  from  Washington  to  Ten- 
nessee, are  thought  to  have  sensibly  impaired  his 
failing  health :  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  at 
Knoxville,  he  sank  gradually  ;  and  on  the  10th  of 
April,  1840,  he  breathed  his  last,  in  the  68th  year  < 
of  his  age. 

Such  is  a  meagre  and  hasty  outline  of  the  life 
and    public  services  of  HUGH  LAWSON  WHITE. 
5* 


54  JUDGE    WHITE. 

Abler  men  have  graced  the  councils  of  the  nation ; 
purer  and  truer,  it  is  believed,  never.  A  tasteful 
and  touching  tribute  to  his  memory  was  paid  by 
the  delegates  from  Tennessee  to  the  Whig  National 
Convention  at  Baltimore  in  May  succeeding  his 
decease ;  when,  amid  the  throng  of  gay  banners 
and  proud  devices  which  waved  over  the  mighty 
host  as  it  passed  on  in  procession  to  its  appointed 
place  of  meeting,  the  banner  of  Tennessee  appear- 
ed shrouded  in  crape  and  borne  on  in  silence 
amid  the  hushed  acclamations  of  surrounding 
thousands — a  mute  but  eloquent  memorial  of  the 
man  whom  his  State  had  so  justly  honored  and  so 
deeply  loved. 


55 


JOHN   BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK. 


BY  S.  DE  WITT  BLOODGOOD. 


A  GREAT  part  of  mankind  never  become  acquaint- 
ed with  the  sources  from  which  they  derive  much 
of  their  enjoyment.  Even  the  most  intelligent 
are  often  at  a  loss  to  trace  to  the  fountain-head, 
the  streams  at  which  they  have  drunk  with  the 
greatest  eagerness.  In  the  literary  world,  doubt 
and  darkness  rest  upon  many  of  the  most  popular 
productions,  clouds  obscure  the  origin  of  some  of 
its  most  cherished  works ;  and  when  these  are 
removed  by  the  spirit  of  research,  or  the  partiality 
of  friendship, — when  unassuming  merit  is  thus 
rescued  from  oblivion,  and  genius  is  preserved 
from  undeserved  indifference,  our  gratitude  is 
justly  due  to  the  remembrancer,  however  much 
his  attempt  may  fall  beneath  the  dignity  of  his 
subject. 

How  precious  then  is  Biography  when  such  is 
its  motive, — how  pious  the  care  of  that  friendship 
which  gives  us  the  true  lineaments,  and  the  fa- 
miliar garb,  of  those  who  have  passed  rapidly 
over  the  stage  of  life,  great  even  in  the  momen- 
tary exhibition  of  their  exalted  worth  !  The  very 
greatest  of  our  race  owe  much  of  their  reputa- 


JOHN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK.  56 

tion  to  this  devoted  friendship,  and  it  is  in  the 
mirror  thus  held  up  to  us,  that  we  grow  fond  of 
virtue,  and  honor  the  talent  which  otherwise  had 
not  been  reflected  to  us  down  the  vista  of  time. 
It  is  with  this  feeling  of  regard  for  the  memory 
and  brilliant  qualities  of  him  whose  name  heads 
this  article,  that  we  attempt  a  sketch  of  the 
character  and  life  of  a  most  noble-minded  and  in- 
tellectual person,  cut  off  in  the  dawn  of  manhood, 
after  a  brief  career,  which  gave  the  highest  hopes 
to  his  friends  and  country. 

Mr.  Van  Schaick  was  a  native  of  the  city  of 
Albany,  in  which  his  family  had  long  been  distin- 
guished. His  father  was  a  wealthy  and  eminent 
merchant,  and  his  grandfather  was  the  celebrated 
Col.  Van  Schaick,  a  soldier  of  two  wars,  distin- 
guished by  his  personal  bravery  and  good  con- 
duct at  Ticonderoga,  where  Lord  Howe  was 
killed,  and  in  the  action  with  Dieskau,  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Monmouth,  and  the  expedition  against  the 
Onondagas. 

After  due  preparation  he  became  a  member  of 
Hamilton  College,  in  this  State,  which  on  the 
death  of  his  father  he  left,  with  the  esteem  of  the 
faculty  and  the  personal  attachment  of  his  class- 
mates. He  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Harmanus 
Bleecker,  Esq.,  our  present  Charge  at  the  Hague, 
with  the  intention  of  commencing  practice  in  his 
native  city.  The  profession  of  law,  however, 
having  no  charms  for  him,  he  determined,  on  at- 


57  JOHN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK. 

taining  his  majority,  to  visit  Europe,  and  he  sailed 
for  England  in  the  year  1826,  with  a  fund  of 
knowledge,  and  a  classical  and  refined  taste, 
which  fitted  him  to  enjoy  and  appreciate  the  ad- 
vantages of  foreign  travel.  Governor  De  Witt 
Clinton  took  particular  interest  in  his  tour,  and 
furnished  him  with  introductions  to  the  literati  of 
the  Old  World. 

His  letters  written  home  to  his  friends  during 
his  absence,  replete  with  sound  observation  and 
originality  of  thought,  were  highly  valued  by  his 
correspondents. 

The  profession  of  the  law  continuing  unsuited 
to  his  tastes,  which  were  of  a  literary  cast,  he 
amused  himself  by  revising  his  studies,  adding  to 
his  stores  of  knowledge,  and  assuming  the  edito- 
rial charge  of  the  Albany  Daily  Advertiser.  In 
this  occupation,  his  elegant  style  of  composition, 
the  clearness  of  his  conceptions,  the  force  of  his 
arguments,  and  the  brilliancy  of  his  wit,  con- 
ferred new  interest  upon  the  columns  of  that 
periodical. 

Pleased  with  his  new  pursuit,  he  became  a  pro- 
prietor of  the  establishment,  and  devoted  his 
whole  energies  to  the  public  service.  It  was  in 
the  course  of  this  occupation,  he  received  many 
honors  from  the  political  friends  with  whom  he 
was  connected,  among  them  a  nomination  to  the 
Senate  for  the  district  in  which  he  lived,  on  which 
occasion  he  received  a  large  and  unexpected  vote. 


58  JOHN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK. 

Were  it  not  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  sketch, 
an  interesting  account  of  the  various  places  of 
honor  and  trust,  which  at  different  times  were 
conferred  upon  him,  might  be  given  the  reader, 
and  a  long  series  of  testimonials  from  leading 
journals  of  our  own  and  other  countries,  honora- 
ble to  his  reputation  in  the  highest  degree. 

The  most  distinguishing  traits  in  his  character 
were  a  fervent  eloquence,  and  high  poetic  talent. 

Had  he  been  compelled  by  circumstances  to 
have  depended  on  either  of  these  for  his  mainte- 
nance, the  public  would  have  learned  long  ere 
this,  to  have  properly  estimated  his  superior  abili- 
ty. In  addressing  an  audience,  his  voice  was 
clear  and  distinct,  his  illustrations  were  classical 
and  appropriate,  his  language  was  forcible  and 
elegant.  The  last  public  speech  which  he  ever 
made,  was  at  Sand  Lake,  in  Rensselaer  county, 
to  a  numerous  audience,  and,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  those  who  were  present,  it  was  a 
specimen  of  extraordinary  ability. 

While  his  prose  compositions  had  attracted  the 
notice  of  foreign  critics,  his  poetry,  generally  the 
fruit  of  leisure  only,  at  once  became  the  subject 
of  general  admiration,  and  had  a  wide  circulation 
through  the  country.  To  give  our  readers  an 
idea  of  his  style  of  thought,  we  extract  from  the 
Biography  of  American  Poets  the  following  lines, 
of  which  it  is  needless  to  say,  there  are  few 


JOHN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK.  59 

things  finer  in  the  whole  range  of  American  lite- 
rature : — 

JOSHUA  COMMANDING  THE  SUN  AND  MOON  TO  STAND  STILL. 

THE  day  rose  clear  on  Gibeon.     Her  high  towers 
Flash'd  the  red  sun-beams  gloriously  back, 
And  the  wind-driven  banners,  and  the  steel 
Of  her  ten  thousand  spears  caught  dazzlingly 
The  sun,  and  on  the  fortresses  of  rock 
Play'd  a  soft  glow,  that  as  a  mockery  seem'd 
To  the  stern  men  who  girded  by  its  light. 
Beth-Horon  in  the  distance  slept,  and  breath 
Was  pleasant  in  the  vale  of  Ajalon, 
Where  armed  heels  trod  carelessly  the  sweet 
Wild  spices,  and  the  trees  of  gum  were  shook 
By  the  rude  armor  on  their  branches  hung. 
Suddenly  in  the  ca*mp  without  the  walls 
Rose  a  deep  murmur,  and  the  men  of  war 
Gather'd  around  their  Kings,  and  "  Joshua  ! 
From  Gilgal,  Joshua!"  was  whisper'd  low, 
As  with  a  secret  fear,  and  then,  at  once, 
With  the  abruptness  of  a  dream,  he  stood 
Upon  the  rock  before  them.     Calmly  then 
Raised  he  his  helm,  and  with  his  temples  bare 
And  hands  uplifted  to  the  sky,  he  pray'd  : — 
"  God  of  this  people,  hear  !  and  let  the  sun 
Stand  upon  Gibeon,  still ;  and  let  the  moon 
Rest  in  the  vale  of  Ajalon  !"  He  ceased — 
And  lo !  the  moon  sits  motionless,  and  earth 
Stands  on  her  axis  indolent.     The  sun 
Pours  the  unmoving  column  of  his  rays 
In  undiminish'd  heat ;  the  hours  stand  still ; 
The  shade  hath  stopp'd  upon  the  dial's  face  ; 


60  JOHN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK. 

The  clouds  and  vapors  that  at  night  are  wont 

To  gather  and  enshroud  the  lower  earth, 

Are  struggling  with  strange  rays,  breaking  them  up, 

Scattering  the  misty  phalanx  like  a  wand, 

Glancing  o'er  mountain  tops,  and  shining  down 

In  broken  masses  on  the  astonish'd  plains. 

The  fever'd  cattle  group  in  wondering  herds ; 

The  weary  birds  go  to  their  leafy  nests, 

But  find  no  darkness  there,  and  wander  forth 

On  feeble,  fluttering  wing,  to  find  a  rest ; 

The  parch'd,  baked  earth,  undamp'd  by  usual  dews 

Has  gaped  and  crack'd,  and  heat,  dry,  mid-day  heat, 

Comes  like  a  drunkard's  breath  upon  the  heart. 

On  with  thy  armies,  Joshua!  The  Lord 

God  of  Sabaoth  is  the  avenger  now ! 

His  voice  is  in  the  thunder,  and  his  wrath 

Poureth  the  beams  of  the  retarded  sun, 

With  the  keen  strength  of  arrows,  on  their  sight. 

The  unwearied  sun  rides  in  the  zenith  sky ; 

Nature,  obedient  to  her  Maker's  voice, 

Stops  in  full  course  all  her  mysterious  wheels. 

On !  till  avenging  swords  have  drunk  the  blood 

Of  all  Jehovah's  enemies,  and  till 

Thy  banners  in  returning  triumph  wave  ; 

Then  yonder  orb  shall  set  'mid  golden  clouds, 

And,  while  a  dewy  rain  falls  soft  on  earth, 

Show  in  the  heavens  the  glorious  bow  of  God, 

Shining  the  rainbow  banner  of  the  skies. 

We  select  from  an  early  copy  of  the  Boston 
Token,  the  following  address  to  the  beautiful 
daughter  of  Governor  Clinton,  now,  alas!  no 
more : — 


JOHN  BLEECKEE  VAN  SCHA1CK.  61 

LINES  TO  A  DAUGHTER  OF  THE   LATE  GOVERNOR  CLINTON. 
WRITTEN    IN   MDCCCXX1X. 

And  thou,  fair  flower  of  hope  ! 
Like  a  sweet  violet,  delicate  and  frail, 
Hast  reared  thy  tender  stem  beneath  an  oak, 
Whose  noble  limbs  o'ersliadowed  thee.     The  damp 
Cold  dews  of  the  unhealthy  world  fell  not 
On  thee  ;  the  gaudy  sunshine  of  its  pomp 
Came  tempered  to  thine  eye  in  milder  beams. 
The  train  of  life's  inevitable  ills 
Fell  like  the  April  rain  upon  the  flowers, 
But  thou  wert  shielded — no  rude  pelting  storms 
Came  down  unbroken  by  thy  sheltering  tree. 

Fallen  is  the  oak, 

The  monarch  of  a  forest  sleeps.     Around, 
The  withered  ivy  and  the  broken  branch 
Are  silent  evidence  of  greatness  past, 
And  his  sweet,  cherished  violet  has  drunk 
The  bitter  dews  until  its  cup  was  full. 
And  now  strange  trees  wave  o'er  it,  and  the  shade 
Of  weeping  willows  and  down-swaying  boughs 
Stretch  toward  it  with  melancholy  sorrow — 
All  sympathizing  with  the  drooping  flower. 
And  years  shall  pass  ere  living  trees  forget 
.   That  stately  oak,  and  what  a  fame  he  shed 
O'er  all  the  forest,  and  how  each  was  proud 
That  he  could  call  himself  a  kindred  thing. 

Long  may  the  beauty  of  that  violet 
Grow  in  the  soil  of  hearts  ;  till,  delicate, 
Yet  ripened  into  summer  loveliness, 
A  thousand  branches  shall  contending  cast 
Their  friendly  shadows  in  protection  there ! 
6 


62  JOIIN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK. 

As  a  specimen  of  his  later  style,  we  add  an 
address  to  a  female  friend  on  her  birth-day,  and 
we  think  we  hazard  little  in  claiming  for  it 
the  very  first  rank  among  similar  productions : 

TO  ,  ON  HER  BIRTH-DAT,  NOVEMBER  12. 

"  A  beauty  that  bewilders  like  a  spell 
Reigns  in  thine  eyes'  clear  hazel,  and  thy  brow 
So  pure  in  vein'd  transparency,  doth  tell 
How  spiritually  beautiful  art  thou." 

ANOTHER  mile-stone  011  life's  journey,  lady ! 
And  still  thy  varied  patli  lies  pleasantly, 
Changing  its  scenes,  as  thou  dost  onward  pass ; 
Now,  in  the  "  cool  sequester' d  vale,"  where  flowers 
Of  joy  and  cheerfulness  are  springing  up, 
Around,  thou  lingerest  in  thy  shaded  bower. 
Serene  retreat,  where  sweet  affections  dwell 
And  thy  heart's  chosen  wealth  is  garner'd  up, 
Ingots  and  gems — a  sister's  depth  of  love, 
Parent's  fond  watchfulness,  and  brother's  pride, 
And  instant  sympathy  with  thy  lightest  wish. 

Anon  thy  queenly  gracefulness  goes  forth 

Where  dazzling  lamps,  and  beauty's  sparkling  eye, 

And  the  light-hearted  viol,  and  the  dance, 

And  wine-cup's  witching  bubbles,  and  the  hush'd 

But  passionate  whisper,  show  fair  Woman's  empire  ; 

Where  cling  around  thy  footsteps,  votaries 

To  gaze  upon  that  nature-tinted  cheek, 

The  tremulous  lustre  of  that  diamond  eye, 

The  raven  masses  of  that  silken  hair — 

To  teach  the  ear  that  voice's  sweetest  tone, 

To  hang  upon  that  smile  which  speaks  so  rare, 


JOHN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK.  63 

Till  pulses  throb  with  a  revealing  swell, 
And  every  thought  is  steep'd  in  thee  alone. 

The  autumn  birds  have  sung  their  sweetest  chime, 
The  green  wood  echos  answer  not  their  voice, 
The  golden  grain  wav'd  in  the  fragrant  air, 
And  fruits  and  flowers  their  mingled  odor  shed 
Upon  the  gale,  till  drear  November's  breath 
Withering  their  glories,  left  them  desolate. 
But  the  rich  tone  of  eloquence  thy  voice 
Gives  forth,  is  music, — and  the  rose  thy  cheek 
Still  holds  in  changeless  lustre,  and  the  flowers 
Give  out  their  perfume  in  thine  own  boudoir, 
Where  the  bleak  winter  winds  can  visit  not, 
But  life's  a  day  of  happiness  and  joy, 

On  in  thy  sun-lit  path, 

No  cloud  to  cross  it  with  disturbing  shadows, 
No  storm  to  shake  thy  heart's  sereneness, 
No  gloom  to  dim  the  twinkling  of  thy  star  ! 

Did  our  limits  permit,  we  could  furnish  specimens 
of  an  entirely  different  character,  and  equally  ex- 
cellent. 

Mr.  Van  Schaick's  health,  which  subsequent 
to  his  return  from  Europe  had  become  established, 
on  one  or  two  occasions  slightly  yielded  to  colds 
caught  in  returning  home  from  Washington, 
where  for  several  years  he  had  spent  his  winters. 
In  the  fall  of  1838,  he  caught  a  severe  cold,  which 
at  last  compelled  him  to  confine  himself  to  his 
room.  After  exciting  the  utmost  anxiety  on  the 
part  of  his  numerous  friends,  his  disorder  took  an 
unfavorable  turn,  and  he  breathed  his  last  on  the 


Cl  JOHN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK'. 

3d  of  January,  1839,  in  the  36th  year  of  his  age. 
During  his  last  illness  he  was  unusually  brilliant, 
his  conversation  was  interesting  and  instructive, 
and  his  recollection  of  his  favorite  authors  never 
more  accurate.  Perceiving  his  danger,  he  com- 
forted his  nearest  relatives  with  the  assurance  of 
his  undying  affection,  spoke  calmly  of  his  ap- 
proaching dissolution,  and  gave  up  his  spirit  with- 
out a  struggle  or  a  groan.  No  death  for  many 
years  produced  such  a  sensation  as  this,  in  the 
city  of  Albany.  The  whole  town  were  affected 
at  his  loss, — the  military  association  which  he  long 
had  commanded,  insisted  upon  paying  him  the 
last  honors  due  his  military  rank,  and  his  zeal  in 
their  behalf — and  a  funeral  procession,  such  as  had 
never  been  seen  but  once  in  that  place,  and  then 
on  the  death  of  Governor  Clinton,  marked  the 
universal  regret  which  attended  his  decease. 

The  press,  of  which  he  had  been  the  ornament, 
spoke  from  one  end  of  the  Union  to  the  other 
their  high  sense  of  his  talents  and  virtues,  and 
even  political  opponents  did  not  hesitate  to  twine 
their  cypress  wreaths  around  his  urn. 

Mr.  Van  Schaick  in  person  was  tall  and  well 
proportioned,  his  manners  were  graceful  and  win- 
ning, his  conversation  elegant  and  instructive,  his 
wit  playful  and  original.  In  the  immediate  circle 
of  his  friends  he  was  most  tenderly  loved,  and 
there  his  loss  was  felt  with  a  poignancy  which 


JOHN  BLEECKER  VAN  SCHAICK.  65 

the  writer  of  this  inadequate  notice  will  not  at- 
tempt to  describe. 

Had  Mr.  Van  Schaick  lived,  he  would  have 
reaped,  ere  long,  the  full  meed  of  honor  to  which 
his  great  talents  and  acquirements  had  already 
entitled  him.  His  intimate  friends,  on  reading  this 
sketch  of  his  career,  will  unite  in  the  opinion, 
that  what  we  have  thus  briefly  said,  falls  far  short 
of  his  claims  to  be  remembered,  and  far  below 
the  standard  by  which  they  estimated  their 
generous  and  noble-minded  companion. 

It  is  sincerely  hoped,  that  his  numerous  pro- 
ductions in  prose  and  poetry,  will  one  day  be  col- 
lected and  given  to  the  public,  and  should  that 
time  ever  arrive,  we  hazard  nothing  in  saying, 
that  few  names,  in  the  American  world  of  letters, 
will  assume  a  more  elevated  rank  than  his. 


06 


JARVIS,  THE  PAINTER. 

BT   WILLIAM   L.   STONE. 

JOHN  WESLEY  JARVIS  was  born  in  South-Shields- 
on-the-Tyne,  (England,)  in  the  year  1780.  He 
was  a  nephew  of  the  great  Christian  reformer 
and  founder  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
with  whom  (on  the  emigration  of  his  own  father 
to  America)  he  resided  during  several  years  of 
his  infancy.  His  father  settled  in  Philadelphia, 
and  at  the  age  of  five  years  the  little  son  was  re- 
moved from  the  care  of  his  pious  uncle,  and 
brought  to  the  United  States. — At  ten,  having 
evinced  a  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  by  looking  at 
pictures,  and  trying  to  daub  some  figures  himself, 
at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Rush,  the  father  of  young 
Jarvis  was  induced  to  apprentice  him  to  an  engra- 
ver, whose  name  was  Savage — a  publisher  of 
prints.  But  he  knew  nothing  of  the  art  of  en- 
graving, to  which  he  pretended,  and  the  boy  was 
already  his  master  in  painting. 

Being  unable  either  to  draw  or  engrave,  Sav- 
age employed  an  Englishman  named  Edwin  to 
do  both,  in  the  name  of  his  employer.  He  then 
removed  to  New  York,  taking  Jarvis  with  him. 
From  Edwin,  Jarvis  learned  both  to  draw  and 


JARVIS,   THE    PAINTER.  67 

engrave ;  and  after  his  separation  from  his  master, 
Jarvis  continued  the  business  for  him  until  he 
himself  became  of  age — serving  his  principal 
faithfully,  in-doors,  and  playing  many  pranks  and 
tricks  fantastic  without.  Becoming  of  age,  he 
began  to  engrave  for  himself.  Soon  afterward, 
his  old  instructor,  Edwin,  fell  in  with  and  invited 
him  to  accompany  him  to  the  painting-room  of 
Mr.  Martin — a  portrait  painter,  who  was  overrun 
with  business.  On  looking  at  his  pictures  Edwin 
remarked  that  Martin  was  the  first  portrait  paint- 
er in  the  United  States.  "  If  that  be  true,"  said 
Jarvis,  "  I  will  be  the  first  to-morrow,  for  I  can 
paint  better  pictures  than  these  now." — This  re- 
solution he  carried  immediately  into  effect,  and 
portrait  painting  became  his  profession  for  life. 
One  of  his  earliest  portraits  was  that  of  Hogg, 
the  comedian,  who  then  kept  a  porter-house  in 
Nassau  street.  Jarvis  was  wont  to  say  that  he 
was  assisted  in  "  face-making"  by  two  men  named 
Gallagher  and  Buddington.  He  himself  then 
only  claimed  to  be  the  best  painter,  because  all 
the  others  in  the  country  "were  worse  than 
bad." 

Jarvis  afterward,  in  connexion  with  an  associ- 
ate named  Wood,  became  a  miniature  painter, 
under  the  instruction  of  Malbone.  While  en- 
gaged in  this  branch  of  the  art,  he  invented  a 
process  of  drawing  profiles  upon  glass.  The  out- 
line being  marked,  the  other  side  of  the  glass  was 


68  JARVIS,    THE    PAINTEE. 

painted  black,  or  gilded  with  gold  leaf.  The 
work  was  rapidly  executed,  and  while  these  trifles 
were  popular,  with  the  aid  of  a  single  assistant,  at 
one  dollar  per  day,  Jarvis  and  Wood  were  en- 
abled to  divide  at  times  one  hundred  dollars  at 
night.  The  gold  leaf  profiles  were  in  great  de- 
mand ;  Jarvis  was  always  full  of  humor,  and 
Wood  was  an  excellent  musician,  so  that  their 
rooms  in  Park  Row  were  attractive  places  of 
resort. 

The  habits  of  Jarvis  were  irregular,  and  he 
married  mysteriously  and  imprudently.  Owing 
to  his  first  indiscreet  marriage,  and  probably  to 
other  irregularities,  it  has  been  intimated  that  he 
did  not  obtain  access  to  the  best  society,  especial- 
ly in  female  circles.  But  he  afterward  married, 
without  mystery,  "a  delicate  and  lady-like  wo- 
man." After  his  separation  from  Wood,  he  had 
a  painting-room  in  Broadway,  nearly  opposite 
the  City  Hotel,  where  the  late  Mr.  Dunlap  says 
he  used  to  paint  profile  portraits  on  Bristol-boards, 
at  five  dollars  each.  They  were  very  well  ex- 
ecuted. He  also  at  the  same  time  painted  in  oil, 
or  upon  ivory,  if  required.  But  notwithstanding 
his  labors  in  the  humble  departments  of  the  art, 
and  his  loose  and  convivial  habits,  he  was  a  stu- 
dent in  every  thing  appertaining  to  his  art,  and 
requisite  to  its  highest  attainments.  He  studied 
anatomy  with  Dr.  John  Augustine  Smith  ;  and 
when  Dr.  John  W.  Francis  returned  from  Europe 


JARVIS,   THE    PAINTER.  69 

in  1815,  bringing  with  him  a  splendid  edition  of 
Gall  and  Spurzheim,  Jarvis  studied  the  work 
several  months,  and,  according  to  Mr.  Dunlap,  he 
was  the  first  painter  in  America  who  applied 
phrenological  science  to  the  principles  of  portrait 
painting. 

It  was  no  advantage  to  the  principles,  or  the 
morals  of  Jarvis,  that  he  became  the  companion 
and  fellow-lodger  with  Thomas  Paine,  who,  as 
Dunlap  says,  "  wrote  *  Common  Sense,'  and  play- 
ed the  fool."  There  is  a  bust  of  Paine  belonging 
to  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  which  was 
modelled  in  clay  by  Jarvis.  At  one  time,  about 
the  year  1807,  the  business  of  Sully,  then  a  resi- 
dent of  New  York,  was  so  small,  that  he  hired 
himself  to  Jarvis  as  an  assistant.  Jarvis  himself 
said  it  was  a  great  shame  that  a  man  of  Sully's 
genius  and  merit  should  find  it  necessary  to  labor 
as  an  assistant  to  him.  Before  this  period,  how- 
ever, Jarvis  had  become  eminent  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  was  even  then  wont  to  pass  his  winters 
in  the  southern  cities,  and  his  summers  only  at 
the  north.  As  a  humorist,  he  was  one  of  the 
most  lively  and  entertaining  of  men.  His  songs 
and  his  stories  made  him  ever  welcome  on  con- 
vivial occasions,  and  he  was  every  where  as  pop- 
ular as  a  table  companion,  as  he  was  distinguish- 
ed in  his  art.  It  was  on  his  return  from  New 
Orleans,  during  the  last  war  with  England,  that 
he  was  employed  by  the  Corporation  upon  the 


70  JARVIS,    THE    PAINTER. 

first  two,  and,  as  we  believe,  the  only  historical 
works  which  he  ever  attempted.  These,  (Perry 
and  Decatur,)  yet  adorn  the  Governor's  apart- 
ment in  the  City  Hall,  and  are  pictures  of  great 
merit.  They  show  that,  with  habits  of  greater 
regularity,  and  attention  to  historical  painting,  he 
might  have  attained  to  exalted  eminence  in  that 
highest  department  in  the  divine  art.  He  had 
previously  painted  full  lengths  at  the  south. 

It  was  soon  after  the  war  that  the  accomplished 
artist,  Henry  Inman,  became  a  pupil  of  Jarvis, 
and  performed  one  or  more  tours  with  him  to 
New  Orleans.  Indeed,  Mr.  Inman  accompanied 
him  on  his  first  visit  to  that  city,  and  a  most  pro- 
fitable visit  it  was.  Jarvis  went  there  pennyless. 
In  six  months  he  realized  six  thousand  dollars, — 
with  three  thousand  of  which  he  returned  to  New 
York.  With  the  assistance  of  his  young  pupil, 
who  was  as  full  of  genius  as  himself,  he  was  en- 
abled to  finish  six  portraits  per  week — giving  a 
daily  sitting  of  an  hour  each  to  his  subjects.  In 
1819,  Mr.  Inman  separated  from  Jarvis,  whose 
habits  were  more  and  more  dissolute,  so  that  in 
fact  he  gave  but  little  instruction  to  his  pupil. 
Inman  then  set  about  teaching  himself.  The  ear- 
liest of  his  paintings  that  we  ever  saw,  was  a 
cabinet  picture,  in  water  colors,  of  Jarvis,  taken 
in  a  slouched  and  dilapidated  straw  hat.  It  was 
a  capital  hit,  and  contributed  much  in  giving  In- 


JARVIS,   THE    PAJNTEE.  71 

man  a  start  in  the  brilliant  career  he  has  subse- 
quently run. 

From  1820  to  1834,  Jarvis  resided  alternately 
at  the  north  and  the  south,  as  already  mentioned. 
He  painted  but  little  at  the  north,  however,  and 
his  habits  became  worse  and  worse — telling 
stories,  singing  songs,  living  high,  and  drinking 
deep.  He  was  eccentric  in  his  manners,  and  also 
in  his  dress,  almost  to  comicality.  He  was  pro- 
digal of  money,  when  he  had  it,  but  in  all  his  ha- 
bits, business  or  otherwise,  entirely  without  sys- 
tem or  economy.  Every  thing  was  in  disorder 
at  home.  He  would  invite  friends  to  dine  with 
him — gentlemen  of  distinction  from  the  south — 
provide  the  choicest  viands  to  be  found  in  the 
market,  and  the  oldest  and  richest  wines — while 
his  table  was  set  with  broken  forks  and  tumblers, 
and  old  and  damaged  crockery.  But  it  was  Jar- 
vis — and  all  was  very  well. 

In  1833,  while  at  New  Orleans,  his  career  of 
merriment  and  dissipation  was  brought  to  a  close 
by  a  stroke  of  paralysis.  He  returned  to  the 
north,  and  from  that  year  until  the  hour  of  his  de- 
cease, on  the  16th  of  January,  1840,  dragged 
out  a  wretched  existence — helpless  and  imbecile, 
both  in  body  and  mind.  Of  religious  faith  or 
hope,  we  presume  he  had  none.  Indeed,  his  prin- 
ciples, or  rather  opinions,  if  he  ever  thought  with 
sufficient  stedfastness  to  form  any,  were  in  unison, 


72  JARVIS,    THE    PAINTER. 

we  believe,  with  those  of  Paine.  Once,  it  is  said, 
when  the  late  Bishop  Moore  was  sitting  to  him, 
the  good  prelate  attempted  to  direct  his  attention 
to  sacred  things ;  but  the  artist,  with  facetious 
irreverence,  cut  short  the  conversation,  by  saying 
carelessly,  and  yet  as  if  merely  giving  a  direction 
for  the  attention  of  the  sitter — "  Turn  your  head 
the  other  way — and  shut  your  mouth."  The  ef- 
fort was  not  repeated.  And  so  died  John  Wes- 
ley Jarvis — the  humorist  and  the  wit — the  jovial 

companion — the  distinguished  artist — and but 

we  forbear  to  finish  the  sentence. 


73 


CHARLES   HAMMOND. 

BY  ALEXANDER  MANN. 

THERE  exists  in  the  bosom  of  the  community  a 
class  of  gifted  men,  who  are  content  to  forego  the 
glare  of  ephemeral  notoriety,  in  order  that  they 
may  build  up  their  own  characters  in  the  light  of 
duty,  and  give  an  abiding  impulse  for  good  to  the 
course  of  society.  This  class  is  not  numerous  or 
obtrusive,  but  the  individuals  who  compose  it 
exercise  a  powerful  and  invaluable,  though  often 
unacknowledged  influence,  over  the  minds  of 
others.  The  busy  world  takes  little  note  of  them, 
for  they  pass  noiselessly  through  it,  and  are  not 
careful  to  purchase  its  applause  by  paying  court 
to  its  ever-changing  whims.  But  they  make  their 
mark  deeply  and  permanently  on  the  character  of 
the  age  in  which  they  live.  The  world's  gaze 
and  the  world's  honors  are  usually  accorded  to 
secondary  minds — your  bustling  public  charac- 
ters— who,  in  their  eagerness  to  rear  a  towering 
reputation  for  themselves,  are  commonly  little 
scrupulous  how  far  they  borrow  materials  from 
others,  and  whose  truest  honor  is  that  they  are 
permitted  to  convey  to  society  the  golden  fruits  of 
minds  infinitely  superior  to  themselves. 
7 


74  CHARLES  HAMMOND. 

On  the  3d  of  April,  1840,  died  at  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  CHARLES  HAMMOND  ; — and  those  who  knew 
and  appreciated  him,  felt  that  one  of  those  supe- 
rior minds  of  whom  we  have  been  speaking,  had 
passed  from  among  men,  and  ascended  on  high. 
Throughout  the  whole  country,  and  especially  at 
the  west,  it  was  felt  that  a  great  man  had  fallen, — 
that  a  giant  mind  had  finished  its  earthly  labors, 
and  gone  to  its  eternal  home. 

Mr.  Hammond  was  born  in  the  State  of  Mary- 
land, in  September,  1779.  In  his  early  youth,  he 
removed,  with  his  father,  who  was  a  respectable 
farmer,  to  western  Virginia.  The  circumstances 
of  his  parents  did  not  permit  them  to  give  him  a 
better  education  than  the  common  schools  of 
the  neighborhood  afforded.  But  outward  obsta- 
cles avail  little  in  deterring  such  a  mind  as 
that  of  Charles  Hammond  from  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge,  usefulness,  and  fame.  He  mastered 
the  elements  of  science,  and  acquired  a  know- 
ledge of  the  languages  through  the  force  of  an 
unconquerable  determination,  and  mainly  by  his 
own  unassisted  exertions. 

He  studied  his  profession  under  the  direction  of 
that  eminent  man,  Philip  Doddridge,  one  of  the 
greatest  men  and  greatest  lawyers  of  western 
Virginia.  His  legal  training  was,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected under  such  tuition,  systematic  and  tho- 
rough. It  is  still  well  remembered,  that  on  his 
examination  for  admission  to  the  bar,  he  acquitted 


CHARLES  HAMMOND.  75 

himself  in  a  manner  so  honorable  as  to  draw  forth 
the  admiration  of  the  numerous  legal  gentlemen 
who  were  present.  Nor  did  his  studies  end  with 
his  noviciate.  Through  life  he  devoted  a  great 
share  of  the  energies  of  a  mind  which  had  few 
equals,  to  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  princi- 
ples of  his  profession — a  profession  which,  more 
than  any  other,  demands  the  unremitted  study  of 
a  whole  life. 

Mr.  Hammond  left  Virginia,  and  settled  in  Bel- 
mont  county,  Ohio,  a  few  years  after  that  now 
powerful  State  was  admitted  into  the  Union. 
He  became  now  permanently  a  citizen  of  Ohio. 
His  attention  was  chiefly  devoted  to  his  profes- 
sion, but  a  portion  of  it  was  given  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  purchased  a  farm,  and  its  cultiva- 
tion afforded  him  the  means  of  relaxation  from 
the  severe  duties  of  his  profession. 

At  this  time,  and  indeed  at  all  times  of  his  life, 
the  law  was  the  engrossing  object  of  his  pursuit. 
He  studied  and  practised  it  as  a  science,  and  more 
for  the  pleasure  he  reaped  from  a  contemplation 
of  its  principles,  than  from  a  desire  of  its  pecu- 
niary rewards.  He  regarded  it  also  as  the  high 
road  to  honor  and  usefulness. 

It  was  not  for  talents  and  acquirements  like 
those  of  Charles  Hammond,  to  linger  in  the  back 
ground.  Immediately  he  took  his  place  at  the 
head  of  the  profession.  Side  by  side  with  the 
most  eminent  lawyers  of  Ohio,  he  maintained  his 


76  CHARLES  HAMMOND. 

ground  through  a  long  life,  with  distinguished 
credit  and  honor.  It  may  be  truly  said,  that  the 
collisions  which  take  place  between  the  members 
of  the  bar,  are  of  all  encounters  the  most  trying 
to  the  intellect  of  the  competitors ;  and  it  is  no 
slight  honor,  that  a  man  has  been  able  through  a 
series  of  years  to  preserve  his  spear  unbroken,  and 
his  plume  untarnished,  in  those  unsparing  intel- 
lectual battles  of  which  the  bar  is  the  constant 
theatre.  But  when  a  combatant  not  only  main- 
tains his  position  in  the  ranks,  but  is  found  at  the 
close  of  the  fight,  standing  among  the  foremost, 
it  cannot  be  questioned  that  his  courage  has  been 
unflinching,  and  his  preparation  complete. 

Mr.  Hammond  was  distinguished  for  the  system- 
atic and  scientific  character  of  his  attainments. 
His  learning  was  something  more  than  a  mere 
aggregation  of-  facts.  His  acquirements  were 
made  in  the  light  of  principles,  and  composed 
not,  as  is  often  the  case,  a  vast  and  shapeless 
mass  of  materials,  but  a  stately  and  tasteful  struc- 
ture, up-rearing  its  fair  proportions  from  an  im- 
movable foundation. 

He  was  particularly  distinguished  as  a  consti- 
tutional lawyer.  In  the  noble  department  of  the 
profession,  which  requires  the  discussion  of  con- 
stitutional principles,  he  found  a  field  of  exertion 
congenial  to  his  taste  and  his  mental  habits.  His 
argument  in  the  case  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  against  the  State  Auditor  of  Ohio,  was 


CHARLES  HAMMOND.  77 

universally  esteemed  a  masterly  performance. 
Indeed,  if  no  other  proof  of  his  legal  abilities 
were  in  existence,  he  would  still  be  entitled  to  no 
ordinary  distinction. 

It  were  hardly  possible  that  a  mind  like  his 
should  not  engage  with  deep  interest  in  politics. 
At  an  early  age,  and  before  he  removed  to  Ohio, 
*he  attracted  the  attention  of  the  political  men  of 
the  west,  by  his  defence  of  Governor  St.  Clair. 
In  the  latter  period  of  the  territorial  government, 
that  accomplished  functionary  was  attacked  with 
great  acrimony  by  the  advocates  of  a  State  or- 
ganization. Mr.  Hammond  defended  him  in  a 
series  of  articles  published  in  the  Sciota  Gazette, 
with  such  vigor  and  success  as  to  drive  the  as- 
sailants from  the  field.  The  talent  displayed  in 
these  articles  attracted  general  attention,  and 
when  public  inquiry  had  discovered  their  author, 
he  received  no  stinted  share  of  applause. 

Mr.  Hammond  possessed  a  fine  taste  for  clas- 
sical literature,  and  occasionally  exhibited  proofs 
of  a  poetic  turn  of  mind.  But  the  law  is  a  mis- 
tress who  does  not  easily  tolerate  a  rival ;  and  he 
chose  to  repress  his  love  of  the  lighter  kinds  of 
literature,  lest  it  might  impair  his  devotion  to  his 
profession,  and  weaken  his  habit  of  logical  inves 
tigation. 

Mr.  Hammond's  taste  for  political  discussion, 
and  his  known  ability  as  a  political  writer,  drew 
him  into  the  editorial  field.    About  the  year  1825 
7* 


78  CHARLES  HAMMOXD. 

he  removed  to  Cincinnati,  where,  in  addition  to  the 
labors  of  his  profession,  he  assumed  the  editor- 
ship of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette.  With  what  mas- 
terly ability  he  acquitted  himself  in  this  field  of 
exertion,  is  well  known.  Up  to  the  time  of  his 
death,  it  was  the  leading  journal  of  its  party  in 
the  western  States.  The  vigor,  energy,  and  lo- 
gical distinctness  with  which  he  wrote,  made  him 
a  most  formidable  antagonist,  while  the  unques- 
tioned integrity  of  his  character  gave  a  degree 
of  weight  to  his  opinions,  not  often  possessed  by 
those  of  partisan  editors.  Mistaken  he  some- 
times, though  seldom,  was,  but  his  honesty  was 
ever  above  suspicion.  No  opponent  entered 
the  lists  with  him  without  finding  a  fair  and  hon- 
orable, as  well  as  most  able  antagonist,  and  few 
without  finding  cause  to  regret  the  encounter. 
He  never  sacrificed  his  conscientious  convictions 
of  right,  to  any  motive  whatever.  He  possessed 
the  honesty  and  independence,  unhappily  too 
rare  among  editors,  to  maintain  the  truth  boldly, 
when  such  a  course  seemed  to  be  unfavorable  to 
the  interests  of  his  own  party. 

In  the  formation  of  his  opinions,  as  well  as  in 
their  expression,  he  was  singularly  honest  and 
fearless.  Neither  friend  nor  foe  was  permitted  to 
influence  him.  In  his  private  character  he  was 
benevolent,  upright,  and  sincere.  Beloved  by  his 
friends,  and  respected  by  all,  he  passed  a  long 
life  of  singular  usefulness,  and  unremitting  labor, 


CHARLES  HAMMOND.  79 

with  unspotted  reputation  and  unsullied  honor. 
And  when  the  summons  of  death  came,  he  laid 
aside  his  armor,  and  retired  from  the  conflict 

"  like  a  warrior  taking  his  rest." 

For  two  or  three  years  before  his  death,  his 
health  failed,  and  he  withdrew  entirely  from  the 
bar.  His  editorial  duties  were  discharged  to  the 
last. 

On  the  third  of  April,  1840,  as  has  already  been 
stated,  the  noble  spirit  of  Charles  Hammond  took 
its  departure  from  the  earth.  The  consciousness 
that  he  had  discharged  his  duty,  while  in  the 
world,  enabled  him  to  leave  it  without  regret  or 
fear ;  and  he  was  sustained  while  passing  through 
the  shadow  of  death,  by  an  unfaltering  trust  in 
the  Father  of  his  Spirit. 


80 


REV.  CHARLES   POLLEN,  J.  U.  D. 


BY    HENRY    J.    RAYMOND. 


SINCE  the  permanent  establishment  of  a  republi- 
can government  upon  the  western  hemisphere, 
the  United  States  has  been  the  place  of  refuge  for 
the  oppressed  of  every  nation.  She  receives  to 
her  bosom,  and  protects  by  her  laws,  not  merely 
the  ignorant  and  degraded  vassals  of  European 
despotism,  but  also  the  sons  of  high  genius,  the 
possessors  of  great  and  lofty  intellects  stored  with 
the  treasures  of  the  past,  and  lifting  on  high  their 
lights  for  the  guidance  of  the  future.  Wherever 
the  rights  of  man  are  unrecognized  in  the  practi- 
cal operation  of  the  political  machinery,  wherever 
the  sacred  claims  of  humanity  are  disregarded 
and  her  high  prerogatives  trodden  down  by  the 
iron  heel  of  despotic  misrule,  thither  may  she  turn 
her  eyes  and  glory  in  having  rescued  from  tyran- 
nous oppression  some  brother — too  noble  to  re- 
main a  silent  victim  of  crushing  ambition,  and  too 
weak  to  hurl  it  from  its  ill-gotten  throne.  Her's 
is  the  proud  triumph  of  having  furnished  the 
freest,  most  inviting  asylum  on  the  earth  for  those 
whose  lot  it  is  to  dwell  in  the  habitations  of  cruel- 
ty and  blood ;  and  of  having  reared  aloft  the  most 


REV.    CHARLES    POLLEN,    J.   U.  D.  81 

formidable  obstacle  to  the  designs  of  those  whose 
energies  are  devoted  to  the  up-building  of  power 
upon  the  ruins  of  liberty  and  human  happiness. 

Glory  enough  is  it  for  any  nation  thus  to  feel 
that  she  lifts  man  up  from  the  dust,  and  enthrones 
him  in  his  native  seat  of  dignity  and  honor. 

The  despotism  of  Austria,  and  the  iron  rule  of 
the  Holy  Alliance,  have  forced  many  worthy 
citizens  of  Germany  and  Switzerland  to  leave 
their  native  land  and  plant  their  homes  upon  our 
hospitable  shores  :  but  among  them  all,  we  can 
call  to  mind  no  name,  brighter  or  more  nobly 
identified  with  the  progress  of  liberty,  than  that  of 
CHARLES  FOLLEN. 

And  here  we  feel  impelled  to  offer  an  apology 
for  our  apparent  presumption  in  attempting  to 
sketch  his  life.  It  is  a  task  which  should  have 
been  consigned  to  abler  and  more  experienced 
hands  ;  and  but  for  an  unlucky  disappointment,  by 
such  would  it  have  been  achieved.  We  are  well 
aware  that  the  affectionate  interest  attached  to 
their  adopted  son  by  the  American  public,  might 
reasonably  warrant  the  expectation  that  his  por- 
trait would  be  drawn  by  the  hand  of  some  highly 
favored  sharer  of  his  personal  friendship — by 
some  intimate  acquaintance  with  his  public  and 
private  virtues.  But  it  has  fallen  to  our  lot  to  be  the 
humble  recorder  of  his  worth ;  and,  in  discharg- 
ing our  duty,  we  shall  make  free  use  of  the  mate- 


82  REV.    CHARTERS    FOIXEN,    J.  TT.  T>. 

rials,  meagre  and  unsatisfactory  at  best,  which 
chance  has  thrown  in  our  way. 

The  few  leading  events  of  his  life,  with  which 
we  are  acquainted,  may  be  briefly  told.  A  native 
of  Germany,  he  was  born  at  Rornrod,  in  the 
Grand  Duchy  of  Darmstadt,  in  the  year  1796,  and 
received  his  education  at  the  university  of  Glesscn, 
where  he  took  his  degree  of  J.  U.  D.  or  Doctor 
of  Laws,  in  1817.  Of  his  family,  an  elder  brother, 
Augustus  Follen,  eminent  as  a  German  poet,  is 
now  a  professor  in  the  university  of  Zurich,  in 
Switzerland ;  and  another  brother,  also  distin- 
guished for  his  literary  abilities,  is  now  a  citizen 
of  the  State  of  Missouri. 

At  an  early  age  he  was  distinguished  for  the 
liberality  of  his  political  opinions,  and  for  the  free- 
dom with  which  he  gave  them  utterance :  so  much 
so,  indeed,  that  upon  the  assassination  of  Kotzebue 
by  Sand,  in  1819,  he  was  suspected  of  having  at 
least  been  privy  to  the  intentions  of  that  wayward 
and  misguided  youth ;  and  although  fully  and 
clearly  innocent,  he  was  nevertheless  compelled 
by  the  jealousy  of  Prussia  and  the  other  Allied 
Powers,  to  leave  Germany. 

He  went  first  to  Switzerland,  and  accepted  an 
appointment,  which  he  immediately  received,  as 
professor  of  the  civil  law  in  the  university  of 
Basle  ;  and  he  continued  in  this  situation,  the  duties 
of  which  were  discharged  with  fidelity  and  uni- 
versal acceptance,  until  1824.  Here  he  exercised 


REV.    CHARLES   POLLEN,    J.  U.  D.  83 

the  same  dauntless  freedom  in  disseminating  his 
opinions  which  had  subjected  him  to  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  constituted  authorities  in  his  native 
land  :  and  even  here  he  was  not  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  Austrian  government,  whose  relentless  des- 
potism holds  in  almost  complete  subjection  her 
more  republican  but  far  less  powerful  neighbors. 
His  animadversions  upon  the  subject  of  civil 
government  were  highly  displeasing  to  Austria, 
and  a  formal  demand  was  made  by  her  upon  the 
authorities  of  Basle,  that  he  should  be  surrendered 
to  her  tribunals  to  answer  the  charge  then  brought 
against  him.  He  protested  his  innocence  of  any 
crime  known  to  the  laws  of  the  Canton  in  which 
he  lived,  and  under  which  he  claimed  the  right 
to  be  tried.  This  right  was  admitted  :  and  the 
insolent  demand  of  the  Austrian  despot  for  a  long 
time  resisted.  But  the  Swiss  government  at 
length  became  alarmed  at  the  threatening  remon- 
strances of  her  powerful  neighbor,  and  soon  com- 
menced, on  her  own  authority,  a  prosecution 
which  speedily  compelled  this  hunted  apostle  of 
Liberty  again  to  fly  for  safety  and  for  life. 

He  first  went  to  Paris,  where  for  a  short  period 
he  was  honored  with  the  friendship  of  Lafayette, 
who  was  then  on  the  eve  of  visiting  the  United 
States,  and  who  kindly  offered  to  introduce  Dr. 
Follen  to  the  acquaintance  and  sympathies  of  the 
American  people.  This  proposal,  however,  he 
modestly  declined,  and  accordingly  remained  in 


84  REV.    CHARLES    FOLLEN,    J.  U.  D. 

France  until  the  autumn  of  1824,  when  he  came 
to  this  country.  Immediately  upon  his  arrival  he 
was  appointed  German  instructor,  and,  in  1830, 
was  made  professor  of  the  German  language  and 
literature  in  Harvard  University.  In  this  capa- 
city he  did  much  to  awaken  and  cherish  the  love 
for  the  literature  of  his  native  land,  which  has 
since  become  so  nearly  universal  throughout  this 
country  and  England.  Until  within  a  few  years 
the  German  language  had  been  but  little  cultivat- 
ed by  the  inheritors  of  the  wealth  of  English  ge- 
nius, and  its  rich  and  almost  exhaustless  stores  of 
poetry  and  philosophy  have  remained  unexplored 
by  the  rest  of  the  world.  But  the  efforts  of  Cole- 
ridge, De  Quincey  and  Carlyle,  by  their  excellent 
translations,  and  still  more  splendid  criticisms,  of 
the  masterpieces  of  German  art,  aroused  the  at- 
tention of  British  students  to  this  newly  discover- 
ed intellectual  realm ;  and  the  impulse  thus  given 
in  England  to  the  study  of  German  literature  soon 
crossed  the  ocean,  and  in  the  United  Stales  is 
growing  in  power,  and  in  some  particular  sections 
is  fast  becoming  a  mania.  To  the  feeling  thus 
awakened,  Dr.  Follen  contributed  not  a  little,  both 
by  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  critical  and 
philosophical  writings  of  his  countrymen  and  by 
his  more  humble,  but  not  less  serviceable  labors, 
in  preparing  several  elementary  works  for  the 
study  of  the  German  language. 

While  at  Cambridge  Dr.  Follen    had    give- 


REV.    CHARLES    FOLLEN,    J.  U.  D.  85 

much  attention  to  the  study  of  Divinity,  for  the 
active  duties  of  which  profession  his  eminent  pu- 
rity of  life  and  extremely  kind  and  benignant  dis- 
position rendered  him  peculiarly  appropriate. 
He  embraced  the  Unitarian  faith,  and  the  most 
prominent  features  of  his  Christian  belief  and 
character  have  been  admirably  set  forth  by  his 
intimate  and  distinguished  friend,  Dr.  Channing. 
He  tells  us  that  "  his  theory  stood  in  direct  hos- 
tility to  Atheism,  which  confounds  man  with  na- 
ture :  to  Pantheism  and  Mysticism,  which  con- 
found man  with  God  :  and  to  all  the  systems  of 
philosophy  and  religion,  which  ascribe  to  circum- 
stances or  to  God  an  irresistible  influence  on  the 
mind.  *  *  *  He  had  given  himself  much  to 
the  philosophical  study  of  human  nature,  and  there 
were  two  principles  of  the  soul  on  which  he  seized 
with  singular  force.  One  of  these  was  '  the  sense 
of  the  Infinite,' — that  principle  of  our  nature 
which  always  aspires  after  something  higher  than 
it  has  gained,  which  conceives  of  the  Perfect,  and 
can  find  no  rest  but  in  pressing  forward  to  Per- 
fection :  the  other  was  '  the  Free  Will  of  Man,' 
which  was  to  him  the  grand  explanation  of  the 
mysteries  of  our  being,  and  which  gave  to  the 
human  soul  inexpressible  interest  and  dignity  in 
his  sight.  To  him  life  was  a  state  in  which  a 
free  being  is  to  determine  himself,  amid  sore  trials 
and  temptations,  to  the  Right  and  the  Holy,  and 
to  advance  toward  Perfection." 
8 


86  REV.    CHARLES    POLLEN,    J.  U.  D. 

At  one  time  he  was  pastor  of  the  Charles  street 
church  in  Boston,  and  subsequently,  for  a  short 
period,  had  charge  of  a  congregation  in  New 
York.  In  1839,  he  was  invited  to  take  the  gui- 
dance of  a  religious  society  in  Lexington,  Massa. 
chusetts,  where  he  accordingly  preached  for  a 
considerable  period.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year  he  visited  New  York,  where  he  delivered  a 
series  of  lectures  on  German  literature,  which 
proved  exceedingly  interesting  and  acceptable  to 
his  numerous  audiences.  After  concluding  his  en- 
gagements in  New  York,  he  embarked  on  board 
the  Lexington,  and  perished  in  its  terrible  confla- 
gration on  the  night  of  the  13th  of  January,  1840. 
The  intelligence  of  his  death,  in  connexion  with 
the  awful  catastrophe  which  was  its  cause,  fell 
upon  the  ears  of  his  many  friends  and  literary  as- 
sociates with  an  agonizing,  heart-rending  power  ; 
and  called  forth  a  repetition  of  the  same  deep  and 
solemn  bewailing  expressed  by  Milton  in  his  ma- 
jestic lament  for  his  beloved  Lycidas  : — 

"  It  was  that  fatal  and  perfidious  bark, 
Built  in  the  eclipse  and  rigged  with  curses  dark, 
That  sank  so  low  that  sacred  head  of  thine." 

We  have  heard  it  said  that  the  14th  of  January, 
the  day  of  his  death,  was  the  appointed  day  for 
his  induction  at  Lexington  into  the  sacred  office 
whose  functions  he  had  assumed,  and  that  a  large 
congregation  of  his  parishioners  remained  assern- 


REV.    CHARLES    POLLEN,   J.   U.  D.  67 

bled  for  some  hours,  momently  expecting  his  arri- 
val. But  it  was  the  will  of  his  Father  that  he  should 
enter  upon  His  service  in  a  higher  and  a  holier 
sphere ;  and  the  next  day  beheld,  in  the  same 
place,  a  still  more  numerous  assemblage  gathered 
together  to  bewail  their  sudden  and  unlooked-for 
bereavement. 

Dr.  Follen's  character  is  described  by  those 
who  enjoyed  his  acquaintance,  as  having  been 
that  of  a  great,  holy  and  heroic  man.  Its  most 
prominent  characteristic  was  his  ardent,  undying 
zeal  for  the  welfare  of  every  human  being.  A 
deep  sense  of  justice,  a  calm  and  abiding  reve- 
rence for  the  rights  of  humanity,  a  clear  convic- 
tion of  man's  inherent  dignity,  and  an  abiding 
recognition  of  his  claims  and  his  destiny,  informed 
his  life  and  controlled  his  actions.  His  earliest 
impulses  were  those  of  a  warm-hearted  philan- 
thropist, gifted  with  a  lofty  mind,  whose  soul  was 
haunted  by  visions  of  human  greatness  and  per- 
fectibility :  and,  like  Schiller,  he  had  '  learned  to 
reverence  the  dreams  of  his  youth.'  Subjected 
as  he  had  been,  in  his  early  manhood,  to  the  cruel 
persecution  of  despotic  governments,  he  embraced, 
as  might  be  expected,  the  most  liberal  principles 
of  democracy.  His  personal  experience  of  the 
evils  of  arbitary  power  had  been  bitter ;  and 
therefore,  perhaps,  he  had  the  fullest,  most  un- 
doubting  faith  in  the  character  of  our  republican 


88  REV.    CHARLES    FOLLEN,    J.  U.  D. 

institutions.  Even  the  scepticism  and  radical 
democracy  of  the  age,  gave  him  no  alarm  for  the 
permanency  of  our  government,  being  fully  confi- 
dent that  they  were  "  merely  the  strivings  after  a 
deeper  foundation  for  the  highest  faith."  His 
adherence  to  moral  principle,  in  despite  of  the 
dictates  of  mere  expediency,  formed  a  marked 
trait  of  his  character ;  and  this,  together  with  his 
all-embracing  benevolence,  led  him  to  take  a  deep 
and  active  interest  in  the  efforts  of  those  who 
contend  for  the  immediate  abolition  of  slavery  in 
all  its  forms. 

But  besides  these  rarer  and  nobler  qualities, 
for  which  he  was  so  highly  distinguished,  the 
gentler  and  more  endearing  virtues  of  private  life 
were  conspicuous  in  his  career.  Uniformly  of  a 
kind  and  benevolent  disposition — his  manners 
marked  witfra  winning  courtesy  and  an  active  sym- 
pathy with  the  welfare  of  all,  he  was  universally 
esteemed  by  his  acquaintances  and  beloved  by  his 
intimate  friends. 

His  life  cxemplifiedjiis  own  brief  but  pregnant 
declaration,  that  he  "  regarded  the  true  character- 
istics of  moral  heroism  to  be  an  honest  conviction 
of  duty,  however  correct,  or  however  mistaken  : 
an  exalted  effort  of  the  will ;  and  the  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice."  Well  may  we  mourn  the  loss  of 
such  a  man  to  our  country  and  the  world,  and 
most  happily  may  we  apply  to  him  Wordsworth's 


REV.    CHARLES    FOLLEN,    J.  U.  D.  89 

character  of  a  Happy  Warrior, — and  say  with 
subdued  and  hopeful  grief, 

"  Peace  to  the  just  man's  memory, — let  it  grow 

Greener  with  years,  and  blossom  through  the  flight 

Of  ages  ;  let  the  mimic  canvass  show 

His  calm  benevolent  features ;  let  the  light 

Stream  on  his  deeds  of  love,  that  shunned  the  sight 

Of  all  but  Heaven,  and,  in  the  book  of  fame, 

The  glorious  record  of  his  virtues  write, 

And  hold  it  up  to  men,  and  bid  them  claim 

A  palm  like  his,  and  catch  from  him  the  hallowed  flame." 


8* 


90 


GOVERNOR  BENJAMIN  PIERCE. 

BT   JACOB   B.    MOORE. 

THE  charge  of  ingratitude,  which  history  has  so 
often  laid  at  the  door  of  republics,  cannot  be  justly 
applied  to  the  American  people.  On  the  con- 
trary, there  has  been  no  instance,  in  any  country, 
where  a  higher  estimate  has  been  placed  upon 
heroic  actions,  and  personal  devotion  to  the  pub- 
lic interests,  than  here.  As  the  fathers  of  the 
Revolution,  one  by  one,  have  passed  off  the  stage 
of  action,  their  memories  have  been  held  in  re- 
membrance, and  the  sense  of  obligation  has  not 
been  lessened  by  the  advent  of  new  generations 
of  men.  When  the  people  have  been  in  doubt  or 
in  peril,  or  when  they  have  had  high  honors  to 
bestow,  we  have  seen  with  how  much  fervor  and 
confidence  they  have  sought  out  the  gallant  and 
hardy  chieftains  who  had  perilled  their  lives  in 
their  country's  cause,  and  with  what  boundless 
confidence  the  people  have  intrusted  their  desti- 
nies to  such  keeping.  It  is  to  this  spirit,  widely 
diffused  among  the  people,  that  those  great  politi- 
cal revolutions  may  be  traced  which  placed  a 
JACKSON  in  the  presidential  chair,  and  which  have 
just  called  from  his  retirement,  in  a  green  old  age, 
one  of  his  illustrious  compeers  to  occupy  the  same 
exalted  station. 


GOVERNOR    BENJAMIN    PI3RCE.  91 

The  leaders  in  our  revolutionary  struggle  have 
all  descended  to  the  grave.  No  general  or  field 
officer  remains,  and  but  few  of  subordinate  rank, 
of  all  that  noble  host  of  heroic  spirits  who  won 
for  us  all  that  we  enjoy  which  is  worth  possessing. 
It  is  no  unfavorable  omen  for  the  country — now 
that  no  more  of  the  gallant  band  of  '76  remain — 
that  the  people  naturally  turn  to  the  brave  and 
tried  hearts  who  breasted  the  storm  of  battle  in 
the  second  war  with  England. 

One  of  the  last  of  the  revolutionary  stock  of  pa- 
triots whom  the  people  elevated  to  high  public 
stations,  was  General  PIERCE,  of  New  Hampshire, 
who  fought  himself  into  an  heroic  reputation  in 
the  war  of  independence ;  retired  to  the  wilder- 
ness in  New  Hampshire,  and  there,  "turning  his 
sword  into  a  ploughshare,"  wrought  himself  out  a 
farm  and  an  estate ;  and,  after  having  filled  vari- 
ous civil  and  military  stations,  closed  his  public 
career  as  Governor  of  the  State. 

BENJAMIN  PIERCE  was  born  at  Chelmsford,  Mas- 
sachusetts, 25th  December,  1757.  His  father, 
Benjamin  Pierce,  died  in  1763,  leaving  a  family  of 
ten  children,  of  whom  Benjamin  was  the  seventh.* 

*  The  ancestors  of  the  family  of  Pierce,  of  Chelmsford, 
were  from  Woburn,  to  which  place  they  came  from  Water- 
town  ;  one  of  their  number,  Daniel  Pierce,  being  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  in  1689,  and  one  of  the  committee  of 
public  safety,  on  the  deposition  of  Andros.  The  name  is 
numerous  in  New  England. 


92  GOVERNOR    BENJAMIN    PIERCE. 

From  the  time  of  his  father's  death  he  resided  in 
the  family  of  Robert  Pierce,  a  farmer,  of  the  same 
town,  for  more  than  ten  years,  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  during  most  of  that  period.  Here 
he  acquired  those  sound  practical  ideas  of  hus- 
bandry and  thrift  which  distinguished  him  in 
after-life. 

On  the  memorable  19th  of  April,  1775,  the 
news  rapidly  spread  to  the  surrounding  settle- 
ments that  the  blood  of  Americans  had  been 
spilled  at(Lcxington.  Pierce  was  at  work  in  the 
field,  when  a  horseman  rode  up  with  the  intelli- 
gence, hastily  delivered  his  message,  and  passed 
onwards  to  alarm  the  country.  He  immediately 
left  his  plough,  went  to  the  house  for  his  uncle's 
gun  and  equipments,  and  started  off,  on  foot,  with 
others  of  his  comrades,  for  Lexington.  Arriving 
there,  they  found  that  the  British  had  fallen  back 
upon  Boston,  and  they  continued  their  march  to 
Cambridge.  Here  young  Pierce,  then  aged  eigh- 
teen, enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  company  com- 
manded by  John  Ford,  and  in  the  regiment  of 
Col.  John  Brooks,  afterwards  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. He  was  in  the  midst  of  the  battle  on 
Bunker's  Hill,  and  from  that  period  to  the  closing 
scenes  of  the  war,  he  was  in  every  action  where 
his  regiment  was  engaged,  and  on  all  occasions 
was  noticed  and  commended  by  his  superior  offi- 
cers for  his  galbntry  and  good  conduct.  From 
the  grade  of  a  common  soldier,  he  passed  through 


GOVERNOR    BENJAMIN    PIERCE.  93 

all  the  subordinate  grades  to  the  command  of  a 
company,  which  he  held  at  the  final  disbanding  of 
the  troops  in  1784.  He  left  the  army,  in  the  en- 
joyment of  the  fullest  confidence  of  his  superior 
officers,  and  with  a  reputation  for  bravery  and 
military  talents,  which  was  confirmed  in  his  sub- 
sequent life. 

Captain  PIERCE  returned  to  his  native  village  in 
1784,  like  most  of  his  brother  officers,  with  the 
remains  of  their  nine  years'  pay  in  continental 
money ;  which,  had  it  been  worth  its  face,  and 
what  the  faith  of  the  government  was  pledged  to 
make  it,  would  have  sufficed  to  purchase  each  of 
them  a  farm.  But  such  was  the  depreciation,  that 
he  found  himself  nearly  destitute  of  funds,  and 
under  the  necessity  of  going  into  the  wilderness, 
where  lands  were  cheap,  to  commence  the  culti- 
vation of  a  farm. 

In  the  following  year,  having  been  employed 
as  an  agent  to  explore  the  Stoddard  grant  in  New 
Hampshire,  while  returning  from  his  expedition, 
he  passed  on  horseback  down  the  northwesterly 
branch  of  the  Contoocook,  a  fine  stream,  which, 
after  a  devious  course  of  many  miles,  unites  with 
the  river  Merrimack.  On  the  "Branch,"  as  it 
was  called,  Captain  Pierce  found  a  solitary  log- 
cabin,  where,  after  partaking  of  the  hospitality  of 
the  occupant,  he  bargained  with  the  owner  for  a 
lot  of  land,  consisting  of  about  fifty  acres,  with  the 


94  GOVERNOR    BENJAMIN    PIERCE. 

intention  of  returning  in  the  following  spring  to 
commence  his  clearing. 

Early  in  1786,  he  proceeded  to  his  newly-pur- 
chased territory.  With  his  axe  he  felled  the  trees 
of  the  forest,  and  with  his  gun  procured  food  for 
sustenance,  which  he  cooked  himself,  as  best  he 
might.  He  slept  upon  his  military  blanket,  and 
as  soundly,  he  was  wont  to  say  in  his  old  age, 
and  as  comfortably,  as  in  after-life,  when  he  had 
acquired  enough  of  worldly  estate,  and  was  in 
what  the  world  termed  "  comfortable  circum- 
stances." Having  made  a  clearing,  and  erected 
a  rude  habitation,  he  married  in  1788  with  Miss 
Andrews,  who  died  in  1792,  leaving  one  daugh- 
ter, who  married  General  John  McNiel.  General 
Pierce  afterwards  married  a  second  wife,  the 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Kendrick,  of  Amherst,  and 
by  her  had  five  sons  and  two  daughters.  The 
death  of  this  lady  preceded  that  of  the  General 
only  a  few  months. 

In  the  autumn  of  1786,  the  militia  of  the  county 
of  Hillsborough  were  first  organized  and  formed 
into  a  brigade.  President  Sullivan  sought  out  the 
soldier,  then  far  in  the  woods,  having  persuaded  a 
gentleman  of  his  council  to  accept  the  office  of 
brigadier  general,  on  the  condition  that  he  was 
to  be  furnished  with  a  brigade  major,  qualified  to 
lake  the  preliminary  steps  for  the  perfect  organi- 
zation and  discipline  of  the  several  regiments. 

General  Pierce,  besides  more  than  eight  years' 


GOVERNOR    BENJAMIN    PIERCE.  95 

service  in  the  regular  army,  served  in  Massachu- 
setts and  New  Hampshire  twenty-one  years  in 
the  militia,  leaving  it  in  the  capacity  of  brigadier 
general.  For  many  years  he  commanded  that 
regiment  which  furnished  a  MILLER,  a  McNiEL, 
and  several  other  highly  valued  officers  and  sol- 
diers, who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
public  service.  It  was  often  remarked  of  General 
Pierce,  that  he  was  the  beau  ideal  of  an  officer  of 
the  Revolution,  who  had  the  manners  of  a  gentle- 
man, with  enough  for  true  discipline  of  that  pride 
which  distinguished  the  superior  from  the  sub- 
altern. 

General  Pierce  was  attached  to  the  militia  from 
principle,  believing  it  to  be  the  only  sure  arm  of 
national  defence.  He  counted  himself  among 
those  who  distrust  standing  armies  as  a  safe  re- 
liance, on  the  ground  that  they  might  be  used 
here,  as  they  have  in  other  countries,  as  instru- 
ments in  the  hands  of  executive  power  to  over- 
awe and  destroy  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

In  1789,  he  was  first  elected  a  representative 
to  the  General  Court  of  New  Hampshire,  and 
was  returned  for  thirteen  years  in  succession.  As 
a  legislator  he  frequently  took  an  active,  some- 
times a  leading  part,  in  the  discussions. 

In  March,  1803,  he  was  first  elected  a  counsel- 
lor, and  continued  in  the  council  from  1803  to 
1809 — the  five  last  years  as  the  counsellor  of 
Governor  Langdon,  by  whom  he  was  appointed 


96  GOVERNOR  BENJAMIN  FIERCE. 

Sheriff  of  Hillsborough,  for  five  years.  In  the 
office  of  Sheriff  he  continued  till  1813;  when,  in 
time  of  high  political  excitement,  he  was  ad- 
dressed out  of  office  by  a  majority  of  both  branch- 
es of  the  legislature,  for  adhering  to  the  old 
court  instead  of  the  new,  which  had  been  estab- 
lished by  the  same  legislature.  The  constitution 
of  New  Hampshire,  making  the  tenure  of  judicial 
office  during  good  behavior,  until  the  age  of 
seventy  years,  except  on  removal,  for  cause,  by 
address  of  both  houses, — the  legislature  in  1813, 
desiring  to  get  rid  of  the  existing  court,  re- 
modeled the  judiciary  system,  rendering  vacant 
all  the  judicial  offices  under  the  old  law.  The 
new  appointments,  of  course,  were  of  new  men ; 
but  two  of  the  judges  of  the  old  court,  disputing 
the  unconstitutionality  of  the  new  act,  held  their 
courts  as  usual,  and  the  sheriffs  of  two  of  the 
counties,  taking  the  same  view  of  the  case,  re- 
fused to  recognise  the  new  court,  who  thus  had 
no  officers  to  execute  their  commands.  The 
legislature,  in  this  state  of  affairs,  soon  assembled, 
and  the  two  refractory  Sheriffs  were  removed  by 
address  of  the  two  houses.  Sheriff  Pierce  was 
one  of  the  number. 

These  proceedings  and  violent  changes  in  the 
judiciary  system  were  in  the  end  unpopular,  and 
mainly  contributed  to  a  revolution  in  the  politics 
of  the  State,  which  soon  after  followed.  At  the 
very  next  election  after  the  removal  of  Sheriff 


GOVERNOR  BENJAMIN  PIERCE.  97 

Pierce  by  address,  the  people  elected  him  to  the 
council,  in  which  office  he  remained  until  1818, 
when  he  was  again  appointed  to  the  office  of 
Sheriff.  While  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
this  office,  General  Pierce  became  aware  of  the 
oppressions  practised  against  poor  debtors  under 
the  imprisonment  laws  of  New  Hampshire  ;  and 
frequently  spoke  in  the  most  decided  terms  of 
reprobation  of  the  barbarous  statute  then  existing 
in  that  State.  So  far  as  his  personal  example 
went, — and  he  enjoined  the  same  upon  all  his 
under-officers, — the  administration  of  the  law 
was  rendered  as  favorable  as  possible  to  the  in- 
carcerated debtor.  One  instance  is  recollected, 
which  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  generous  feel- 
ings of  Sheriff  Pierce.  An  old  man,  of  the  name 
of  Brewer,  a  revolutionary  soldier,  had  became 
indebted  to  a  petty  shop-keeper,  and  being  unable 
to  pay  the  debt,  had  been  arrested  by  his  credit- 
or, and  thrust  into  close  jail.  Here,  among  a 
motley  crew  of  thieves  and  felons,  he  had  actually 
been  confined  for  years.  He  had  no  earthly 
means  of  paying  the  debt,  and  could  take  the 
oath  of  poverty  ;  but  he  had  not  the  means  of 
paying  his  board  bills  in  prison,  and  the  fees  of 
discharge  !  Fruitless  attempts  had  been  made  to 
soften  the  obdurate  heart  of  the  remorseless  cre- 
ditor, and  subscriptions  had  been  started  to  raise 
the  sum  necessary  for  the  prisoner's  release  with- 
out success — and  the  old  soldier  remained  in  his 
9 


98  GOVERNOR  BENJAMIN  PIERCE. 

gloomy  cell.  General  Pierce,  on  becoming  ap- 
prised of  the  facts  in  the  case,  went  to  the  prison, 
and  opened  the  doors  of  the  cell,  bidding  the 
gray-headed  old  man,  "  Go  breathe  the  free  air  !" 
The  debt  he  paid  out  of  his  own  pocket. 

In  1827,  General  Pierce  was  elected  Governor 
of  the  State.  In  the  following  year  he  was  left 
out  of  office,  on  account  of  his  opposition  to  the 
re-election  of  J.  Q.  ADAMS.  In  1829,  the  hero  of 
the  Hermitage  having  succeeded,  the  State  of 
New  Hampshire,  (which  has  never  been  long  in 
opposition  to  any  federal  administration,)  again 
elected  General  Pierce  to  the  office  of  Governor. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  late  war  with 
Great  Britain,  General  Pierce  entered  with  great 
zeal  into  its  support ;  and  used  often  to  say,  that 
were  he  a  few  years  younger,  he  would  once 
more  hasten  to  the  battle-field.  Two  of  his  sons, 
by  his  advice,  entered  the  public  service,  one  of 
whom  died  in  the  western  country,  and  the  other, 
Col.  B.  K.  Pierce,  has  earned  for  himself  a  dis- 
tinguished reputation.  The  Hon.  Franklin  Pierce, 
member  of  the  United  States'  Senate,  from  New 
Hampshire,  is  a  son  of  General  Pierce. 

Governor  Pierce  had  experienced  in  their  full 
force  the  inconveniences  of  an  imperfect  educa- 
tion. Although  his  naturally  strong  mind  in  a 
measure  overcame  the  difficulties  which  he  often 
encountered  in  the  discharge  of  his  various  duties 
— he  used  often  to  speak  with  great  earnestness  of 


GOVERNOR  BENJAMIN  PIERCE.  99 

the  importance  of  early  and  particular  attention 
to  education.  When  he  entered  the  army,  his 
acquirements  were  very  limited,  having  scarcely 
ever  enjoyed  even  the  advantages  of  a  common 
school.  By  practice  and  perseverance,  he  ac- 
quired a  competent  knowledge  of  business,  and 
passed  through  all  his  various  offices  with  credit 
to  himself,  and  the  public  satisfaction. 

In  his  private  character,  General  Pierce  was 
hospitable  and  liberal.  There  was  no  public  or 
private  charity  in  the  neighborhood,  to  which  he 
did  not  willingly  contribute — often,  indeed,  taking 
the  lead  in  such  matters.  His  house  was  open  to 
all  strangers,  and  until  the  evening  of  life,  he 
kept  up  the  good  old  custom  of  gratuitous  enter- 
tainment to  the  passing  travellers  who  chose  to 
become  his  guest.  He  was  of  a  cheerful  dispo- 
sition, always  disposed  to  look  upon  the  bright 
side  of  things,  and  delighting  to  contribute  to  the 
happiness  of  those  around  him,  whether  young  or 
old.  Vivacious  youth  found  in  him  a  congenial 
spirit,  and  sober  age  saw  nothing  with  which  to 
reproach  him.  His  friends  were  numerous,  and 
his  memory  is  cherished,  not  because  he  held 
high  public  station,  and  obtained  a  commanding 
influence  among  the  people,  but  on  account  of 
his  plain  republican  manners,  his  integrity  of 
character,  his  love  of  justice  and  private  hospi- 
tality. His  death  occurred  on  the  1st  of  April, 
1839,  when  he  was  in  the  82d  year  of  his  age. 


100 
GENERAL  ABSALOM  PETERS. 

BY    ABSALOM    PKTERS,    D.  D. 

THE  subject  of  this  memoir,  whose  decease  was 
announced  a  few  months  since,  was  born  in  Heb- 
ron, Connecticut,  March  25th,  1754.  His  father 
Colonel  John  Peters,  who  lived  to  the  age  of 
84  years,  and  his  grandfather,  of  the  same  name, 
resided  at  Hebron,  and  were  respected  as  men  of 
integrity  and  worth.  His  great-grandfather  was 
William  Peters  of  Andover,  Massachusetts,  son 
of  Andrew  Peters  of  Ipswich,*  Massachusetts, 
son  of  William  Peters  of  Boston ;  who  was  one 
of  three  brothers, — William,  Thomas  and  Hugh — 
sons  of  William  Peters  of  Fowy,  in  Cornwall, 
England,  who  were  puritans  and  emigrated  to 
New  England  in  1634.  Thomas  was  a  minister 
of  the  gospel,  and  is  said  to  have  resided  at  Say- 
brook,  Connecticut ;  but,  as  far  as  we  know,  left 
no  descendants  bearing  his  name.  Hugh  was 

*  See  History  of  Hugh  Peters,  A.  M.,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Pe- 
ters, LL.  D.,  New  York,  1807.  The  writer  of  this  memoir 
has  a  manuscript  furnished  by  Col.  John  Peters  of  Hebron 
to  his  nephew,  Dr.  John  S.  Peters,  late  Governor  of  Con- 
necticut, by  which  he  has  corrected  the  genealogy  given  in 
the  "  History  of  Hugh  Peters,"  by  inserting  the  name  of 
Andrew  Peters  of  Ipswich* 


GENERAL    ABSALOM    PETERS.  101 

also  a  clergyman,  and  was  settled  at  Salem,  Mas- 
sachusetts, as  pastor  of  the  first  church  in  that 
place,  now  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  C. 
W.  Upham.  His  name  is  famous  in  history,  and 
few  men  have  been  more  misrepresented  and 
traduced.  After  repeated  solicitations  from  the 
general  court  of  Massachusetts,  he  reluctantly 
accepted  the  appointment  of  agent  or  ambassador 
of  the  plantations,  to  visit  the  government  of 
Great  Britain,  where,  having  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  commonwealth,  he  fell  under  the  wrath  of 
Charles  II.,  and  was  beheaded  in  1660.*  He  left 
no  children,  excepting  one  daughter ;  and  the 
name  of  his  family,  in  this  country,  was  preserved 
only  by  the  descendants  of  his  brother  William, 
already  noticed. 

From  William  Peters  of  Boston,  the  subject  of 
our  narrative  was  of  the  sixth  generation.  His 
early  life  was  spent  amid  the  oppressions  and 
agitations  which  preceded  the  war  of  the  Revo- 
lution. It  was  perhaps  the  most  eventful  period 
of  our  country's  history,  "  a  time,"  as  we  have 
often  heard  him  remark,  "which  tried  men's 
souls."  His  lather  was  a  Whig,  and  young  Absa- 
lom early  imbibed  the  principles  and  the  spirit  of 

*  See  History  of  Hugh  Peters,  before  referred  to,  and 
Upham's  "  Second  Century  Lecture  of  the  First  Church," 
Salem,  1829,  and  his  "  Character  of  Hugh  Peters,"  in  the 
Christian  Register  of  the  same  year. 


102  GENERAL    ABSALOM    PETERS, 

resistance  to  the  oppressive  exactions  of  the  go- 
vernment of  Great  Britain.  But  his  eldest  brother, 
who  was  educated  for  the  Episcopal  church,  and 
who  afterwards  left  his  profession  to  take  up  arms 
in  the  British  service,  was  a  zealous  Tory.  His 
uncle,  who  was  a  clergyman,  was  also  an  active 
and  conspicuous  opposer  of  the  Revolution,  and 
rendered  himself  so  odious  to  the  Whigs,  that  he 
was  obliged  to  abscond  and  take  refuge  in  the 
mother  country.  Absalom  firmly  resisted  the  in- 
fluence and  persuaisons  of  these  powerful  relatives, 
and  adhered  to  the  cause  of  the  Revolution.  This 
subjected  him  to  the  severest  trials  ;  and  we  have 
often  heard  him  describe,  with  tears,  the  conflict 
of  feeling  with  which,  at  the  age  of  19  and  20, 
he  united  with  the  Whigs  in  inflicting  summary 
punishment  upon  his  uncle  for  his  secret  co-opera- 
tion with  the  enemies  of  his  country.  In  his 
youth  he  was  also  in  the  battle  of  East  Chester, 
New  York. 

At  the  age  of  21,  Mr.  Peters  became  a  mem- 
ber of  Dartmouth  College.  Here  too  he  engaged 
with  ardor  in  the  scenes  of  that  day,  so  intimate- 
ly connected  with  the  achievement  of  our  coun- 
try's independence.  For  a  considerable  portion 
of  his  college  life,  he  was  captain  of  a  volunteer 
company,  composed  of  the  students,  who  were 
armed  and  equipped  to  repel  the  attacks  of  the 
Indians,  and  to  render  such  aid  as  might  be  re- 
quired by  the  dangers  of  the  times.  In  this  ca- 


GENERAL  ABSALOM  PETERS.  103 

pacity  he  was  several  times  called  out  at  the 
head  of  his  youthful  band,  but  never  came  into 
actual  conflict  with  the  enemy.  His  education 
was  thus  military,  as  well  as  classical  ;  and 
during  the  course  of  his  studies,  he  lost  nothing 
of  that  zeal  in  the  cause  of  his  country  which 
had  been  inspired  by  the  events  of  his  boyhood. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  tenth  class  of  graduates 
of  Dartmouth  College,  who  completed  their  course 
in  1780,  under  its  venerable  founder  and  first 
president,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eleazar  Wheelock.  The 
class  consisted  of  ten  members,  viz.  Amos  Chase, 
Edward  Longfellow,  Noah  Miles,  William  Patten 
(D.  D.),  Absalom  Peters,  George  Pierce,  Peter 
Pohquonnopeet,  (an  Indian  chief  of  the  St.  Regis 
tribe,)  John  JRolphe,  Joseph  Steward,  and  Daniel 
Story.  Those  whose  names  are  in  italics  were 
clergymen.  Mr.  Peters  also  commenced  his 
studies  with  a  view  to  the  gospel  ministry  ;  but 
on  account  of  the  failure  of  his  health,  a  few 
years  after  he  graduated,  he  was  induced  to  re- 
linquish the  study  of  his  chosen  profession  and 
turn  his  attention  to  agriculture,  and  such  mili- 
tary and  civil  employments  as  were  demanded 
by  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  in  a  new  country, 
where  there  were  few  so  well  qualified  by  educa- 
tion and  natural  talent,  for  offices  of  public  trust 
and  usefulness.  He  was  also  engaged  at  differ- 
ent times  in  classical  instruction,  and  was  espe- 
cially distinguished  as  a  teacher  of  music,  in 


104         GENERAL  ABSALOM  PETERS. 

which  he  composed  several  pieces  of  considerable 
reputation. 

In  October,  1780,  a  few  months  after  he  gradu- 
ated, a  great  alarm  was  occasioned  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  Royalton,  Vermont,  by  the  Indians,  and  a 
report  that  4,000  Canadian  troops  had  crossed  lake 
Champlain,  with  the  intention  of  proceeding  to 
Connecticut  river,  under  the  command  of  John 
Peters,  the  elder  brother  of  Absalom, — already 
referred  to, — who  had  now  become  a  colonel  in 
the  British  service,  and  was  at  the  head  of  the 
"  Queen's  Rangers,"  so  called,  in  Canada ;  a  large 
regiment  composed  of  Canadian  Indians  and  re- 
fugees from  the  Colonies.  Absalom  Peters  was 
active  and  urgent  in  raising  a  force  to  resist  this 
incursion  of  his  brother's  troops  ;  and  marched 
at  the  head  of  six  companies,  from  the  northern 
part  of  New  Hampshire  to  Newbury,  Vermont, 
the  place  designated  for  their  rendezvous.  On 
his  arrival  at  this  post,  he  was  appointed  Aid  to 
Major-General  Bailey,  which  office  he  sustained 
till  the  close  of  the  war.  Being  well  advised  of 
the  position  of  his  brother  in  Canada,  he  selected 
a  confidential  agent,  who  proceeded  under  his 
special  instructions  to  the  army  of  Col.  Peters, 
who  had  already  reached  the  hither  side  of  the 
lake,  and  was  planning  his  march  across  Vermont 
to  the  Connecticut.  The  agent  conducted  his 
plan  with  so  much  adroitness  and  skill,  that  he 
soon  secured  the  confidence  of  Col.  Peters,  and 


GENERAL  ABSALOM  PETERS.  105 

was  selected  by  him  as  his  confidential  guide  to 
conduct  his  army  through  the  wilderness  of  the 
Green  Mountains,  with  which  he  professed  a  per- 
fect acquaintance.  The  result  was  that  he  in- 
tentionally led  them  in  circles,  crossing  each  other, 
for  several  days,  by  which  they  lost  much  time, 
exhausted  their  provisions,  and,  at  length,  found 
themselves  so  bewildered  and  exposed,  that  the 
courage  of  Col.  Peters  failed  him,  and,  with  the 
concurrence  of  a  portion  only  of  his  officers,  he 
decided  on  a  precipitate  retreat  to  Canada,  by 
which  his  troops  wers  divided  and  himself  dis- 
graced, by  an  almost  entire  failure  of  the  object 
of  his  expedition.  This  ingenious  device  effec- 
tually arrested,  and,  in  the  end,  prevented  all  at- 
tempts of  the  Canadians  and  Tories  to  destroy 
the  frontier  settlements  of  Vermont  and  New 
Hampshire.  His  admirable  success  in  thus  de- 
feating the  plans  of  his  brother,  and  ruining  his 
influence,  for  the  time  being,  even  with  the  Cana- 
dians themselves,  placed  Mr.  Peters  high  in  the 
confidence  of  the  Whigs,  and  gave  him  an  early 
and  conspicuous  influence,  which  he  was  ever 
ready  to  exert  for  the  good  of  his  country. 

In  1781,  he  was  chosen  to  represent  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants  east  of  the  Connecticut  river, 
as  a  member  of  the  convention  which  met  at 
Bennington ;  and  afterwards,  during  six  sessions, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Vermont  until  "the  Grants"  which  he  represented 


106         GENERAL,  ABSALOM  PETERS. 

were  annexed  to  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  by 
an  act  of  Congress.  During  this  period  also  he 
sustained  the  offices  of  justice  of  the  peace  and 
high  sheriff.  In  the  mean  time  he  was  engaged 
in  subduing  a  farm  in  the  new  town  of  Went- 
worth,  where  he  resided.  After  the  cession  of 
"  the  Grants"  to  New  Hampshire,  he  was  several 
times  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  that  State, 
and  was  honored  with  numerous  civil  offices, 
which  he  discharged  with  great  integrity  and 
ability.  He  also  co-operated  efficiently  with  Gov. 
Sullivan  and  others  in  organizing  the  militia  sys- 
tem of  that  State ;  and  having  served  as  an  offi- 
cer twenty-four  years,  he  resigned,  with  the  rank 
of  brigadier-general. 

At  the  age  of  29,  General  Peters  was  married 
to  Mary  Rogers,  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Rogers, 
Esq.,  a  gentleman  of  liberal  education,  and  a  de- 
scendant, of  the  fifth  generation,  from  the  martyr 
John  Rogers  of  England,  who  was  burned  at 
Smithfield  in  1555.  In  this  connexion  he  lived 
thirty-six  years,  until  October,  1819,  when  Mrs. 
Peters,  having  reared  to  maturity,  and  with  great 
discretion  and  kindness,  a  family  of  nine  children, 
was  removed  by  death,  aged  63  years.  Her  son, 
Major  George  P.  Peters  of  the  army,  who  was  a 
distinguished  officer  in  the  last  war  with  Eng- 
land,— having  served  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe, 
under  General  Harrison,  and  in  several  battles  on 
the  northern  frontiers,  as  also  under  General  Jack- 


GENERAL    ABSALOM    PETERS.  107 

son  during  the  Seminole  war,  and  having  been 
twice  wounded, — died  in  East  Florida  in  1819,  in 
his  31st  year.  His  younger  brother,  James  W., 
a  merchant  in  Alabama,  and  a  member  of  the 
Senate  of  that  State,  died  two  years  after,  at 
about  the  same  age.  The  surviving  children  of 
Gen.  Peters  having  become  settled  in  life,  in  1821 
he  removed  to  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  where  he  was 
married  to  the  worthy  widow  of  the  late  Rev.  John 
Gurley,  and  was  soon  after  appointed  post-mas- 
ter, which  office  he  sustained  until  a  few  months 
before  his  death.  In  the  autumn  of  1839,  warn- 
ed by  increasing  infirmities,  he  was  induced  to  re- 
move to  the  residence  of  his  oldest  son,  JohnR.  Pe- 
ters, of  New  York,  where  he  received  the  solicitous 
attentions  of  his  children  resident  in  that  city,  until 
March  29,  1840,  when  he  departed  this  life,  at  the 
age  of  86  years  and  4  days.  His  remains  were  re- 
moved, in  compliance  with  his  direction,  to  his 
native  place  in  Hebron,  Connecticut,  where  they 
were  interred  amid  the  scenes  of  his  childhood,  in 
a  grave  purchased  by  himself,  by  the  side  of  his 
father's,  in  the  burying-ground  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  The  oldest 
men  were  his  pall-bearers,  and  their  children  of 
the  second  and  third  generations  walked  in  the 
procession,  as  they  conveyed  this  relic  of  another 
age  to  its  resting-place  in  the  grave.  "Our 
fathers!  where  are  they ?"  , 

General  Peters  was  a  man  of  strongly-marked 


108         GENERAL  ABSALOM  PETERS. 

and  original  traits  of  character.  His  mind  was 
active  and  investigating — his  memory  compre- 
hensive and  retentive.  He  had  great  indepen- 
dence, self-reliance,  decision  of  character,  and 
personal  courage,  combined  with  an  uncommon 
flow  of  mirthfuluess  and  philosophical  wit.  He 
possessed  the  power,  in  an  extraordinary  degree, 
of  impressing  his  thoughts  and  opinions  upon  the 
minds  of  others,  and  was  fitted  for  command  in 
times  of  peril  arid  alarm ;  while,  in  his  ordinary 
intercourse,  no  man  was  ever  more  free  from 
hauteur  and  airs  of  consequence.  His  social  ten- 
dencies were  strong  and  perpetual.  He  treated 
all  men  as  his  equals,  and  was  a  most  amusing,  as 
well  as  instructive  companion.  Thus  while  he 
contributed  to  the  cheerful  entertainment  of  every 
circle  in  which  he  moved,  few  men  have  enjoyed 
life  as  much  as  he.  His  habits  were  favorable  to 
the  possession  of  strong  physical  health,  and  his 
views  and  anticipations  were  ever  enlivened  with 
hope.  And  these  traits  of  character  were  by  no 
means  diminished  with  his  declining  years.  The 
summer  previous  to  his  death,  when  he  was  in 
his  86th  year,  he  took  a  journey  alone  to  New 
Hampshire,  to  visit  his  numerous  friends  in  that 
State,  during  which  he  was  absent  three  months, 
and  travelled  five  hundred  miles.  He  went,  as  he 
said  in  a  letter  now  in  our  possession,  "  to  mourn 
with  the  living  the  loss  of  the  dead."  On  his  re- 
turn, he  remarked  that  he  was  not  conscious  of 


GENERAL    ABSALOM    PETERS.  109 

ever  having  enjoyed  three  months  of  his  life  more 
highly !  This  cheerful  disposition  he  cherished 
to  the  very  last.  But  a  few  hours  before  his 
death,  he  remarked  that  the  patriarch  Jacob, 
when  he  was  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  old, 
said,  "  Few  and  evil  have  the  days  of  the  years 
of  my  life  been  ;"  but  I  am  much  younger  than 
Jacob,  and  yet  I  can  say  truly,  "My  days  have 
been  many  and  full  of  prosperity  !  Glory  to  God, 
that  I  have  had  so  many  blessings  !" 

The  sayings  and  anecdotes  of  General  Peters 
would  fill  volumes  ;  and  if  they  could  be  gathered 
up  and  presented  in  the  language  in  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  relate  them,  they  would  throw 
much  light  upon  the  history  of  our  country,  during 
the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century.  But  this 
would  be  impossible.  They  were  tales  that  were 
told — not  written — and  are  but  imperfectly  re- 
membered by  his  survivors.  We  will  add  only 
one,  which  is  at  once  instructive  and  illustrative 
of  the  cheerful  views  with  which  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  regard  the  progress  of  human  improve- 
ment. Most  old  men  look  upon  all  changes  in 
the  customs  and  usages  of  society  with  disappro- 
bation, as  indications  of  increasing  depravity  and 
wickedness.  Not  so  with  the  subject  of  our  nar- 
rative. "General,"  said  an  aged  friend  of  his, 
"  don't  you  think  the  world  is  growing  much  more 
wicked  than  it  was  when  we  were  boys?"  "No," 
said  the  General,  "it  was  always  a  wicked  world. 
10 


110        GENERAL  ABSALOM  PETERS. 

Cain  killed  his  brother ;  and  there  are  very  few 
examples  of  so  great  wickedness  as  that  in  our 
times,  especially  in  civilized  countries.  No,  neigh- 
bor T.,  I  think  the  world  is  growing  better. — 
There  is  much  more  light  and  knowledge  among 
men  than  there  was  a  century  ago,  and  more  re- 
ligion in  the  world  than  there  once  was.  And  I 
think  there  has  been  some  improvement  in  our 
own  country  since  we  were  young.  I  remember 
that  sixty-one  years  ago  I  was  at  the  house  of  my 

friend  the  Rev.  Mr.  P.,  in  L ,  Massachusetts, 

and  the  Rev.  Mr.  K.,  who  had  lately  been  dismissed 
from  his  charge  in  a  neighboring  town,  called  to  see 
him.  Mr.  P.  inquired  of  Mr.  K.,  who  was  now 
preaching  to  his  former  people  ?  '  No  one,'  said 
Mr.  K.,  '  the  people  are  too  wicked  to  have  a 
minister!  They  lately  had  a  town  meeting  to 
choose  tithing-men  and  adopt  measures  to  secure 
the  proper  observance  of  the  Sabbath  laws  ;  but 
they  chose  the  most  notoriously  wicked  man  in 

the  town.     The  chairman,  Lieutenant  E ,  on 

counting  the  votes  and  finding  the  result  to  be  so 
discreditable,  refused  to  declare  the  vote,  but  rose 
and  said,  '  It  must  be  a  mistake !  It  cannot  be, 
that  this  town  has  lost  all  sense  of  character, — all 
self-respect !  It  cannot  be !  And,  to  settle  the 
question,  I  will  divide  the  house  by  the  middle 
aisle.  You  that  are  for  religion  and  good  order, 
take  the  right-hand  pews  ;  and  you  that  are  for 
the  devil  and  confusion,  go  to  the  left.'  And  would 


GENERAL    ABSALOM    PETERS.  Ill 

you  believe  it? — more  than  two-thirds  of  them 
went  to  the  left !' 

"Now  this,"  said  General  P.,  "would  be  a  hard 
case  in  these  times,  bad  as  the  times  are ;  yet  this 
occurred  sixty-one  years  ago  in  old  Massachu- 
setts !  No,  neighbor  T. ;  the  times  are  growing 
better,  and  our  children  have  far  better  privi- 
leges than  ever  we  had.  So  it  will  continue  to 
be,  on  the  whole,  till  the  whole  world  will  be 
converted." 


112 


ROBERT   Y.    HAYNE. 

BY  ALEXANDER  MANN. 

No  State  in  the  Union  has  been  more  fruitful  in 
great  men  than  South  Carolina.  Like  the  Roman 
mother,  she  points  to  her  "jewels"  with  exulting 
pride.  Small  in  territory  and  limited  in  her  re- 
sources, she  may  not  compete  with  all  her  sister 
States  in  wealth  and  power ;  but  her  treasure  is 
the  illustrious  fame  of  her  sons,  and  her  pride  the 
devoted  attachment  which  they  always  manifest 
to  their  native  State.  And  it  may  be  truly  said, 
that  as  no  son  of  Carolina  ever  served  her  with 
more  zeal  and  ability  than  Hayne,  so  none  ever 
enjoyed  in  a  higher  degree  her  affectionate  admi- 
ration and  enthusiastic  gratitude. 

ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE  was  born  near  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1791. 
He  was  sprung  from  the  best  blood  of  the  Revo- 
lution. The  only  members  of  his  family  who 
were  able  to  bear  arms  perished  in  that  glorious 
struggle.  Confinement  in  a  British  prison-ship 
destroyed  the  one,  and  the  other,  the  martyred 
Isaac  Hayne,  poured  out  his  blood  on  the  scaffold 
in  defence  of  the  liberties  of  his  country. 

Mr.  Hayne  was  the  son  of  a  respectable  plant- 


ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE.  113 

er  of  moderate  fortune.  He  did  not  receive  a 
collegiate  education.  His  studies  were  begun 
and  ended  at  a  grammar-school  in  Charleston  ; 
and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  office  of 
Langdon  Cheves  as  a  student  at  law.  It  is  hard- 
ly necessary  to  say,  that  the  instructions  of  this 
distinguished  jurist  and  statesman  were  of  the 
utmost  benefit  to  young  Hayne.  A  more  brilliant 
and  exciting  example  could  not  have  been  pre- 
sented, or  one  more  likely  to  fire  with  ambition  a 
generous  and  aspiring  mind. 

Mr.  Hayne  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  his 
profession  with  his  characteristic  energy.  But 
before  he  had  attained  the  age  at  which  he  could 
legally  be  admitted  to  practice,  the  war  with 
Great  Britain,  which  was  then  approaching,  called 
upon  the  patriotic  to  defend  their  country  in  the 
field.  Mr.  Hayne,  with  the  ardor  which  charac- 
terized him  through  life,  resolved  to  take  up  arms. 
He  applied  for  and  obtained  an  examination,  and 
admission  to  the  bar,  under  condition  that  he 
should  not  practise  till  he  became  of  age.  Hav- 
ing thus  terminated  his  studies,  he  immediately 
volunteered  his  services  as  a  soldier,  and  early  in 
1812  took  the  field  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  3d  re- 
giment of  State  troops.  His  first  effort  as  an 
orator  was  made  while  in  the  service,  at  Fort 
Moultrie,  where  he  delivered  an  oration  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1812,  to  his  companions  in  arms. 
The  elegance  of  his  style,  and  the  lofty  patriotism 
10* 


114  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE. 

of  his  sentiments,  gave  indication  thus  early  of 
his  subsequent  renown. 

Having  been  honorably  discharged  from  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Hayne  imme- 
diately commenced  practice  in  the  city  of  Charles- 
ton. Mr.  Cheves  was  about  this  time  elected  to 
Congress,  and  Mr.  Hayne  had  the  good  fortune 
to  succeed  in  a  great  degree  to  his  legal  business. 
He  became  immediately  successful  in  his  profes- 
sional pursuits,  and  his  practice  continued  to  in- 
crease, and  grow  more  profitable,  up  to  the  time 
when  he  finally  retired  from  the  bar. 

Mr.  Hayne  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  in 
October,  1814.  This  was  his  first  appearance 
upon  the  stage  of  public  life — a  stage  where  he 
was  destined  to  act  an  illustrious  part.  He  was 
elected  over  a  long  list  of  competitors,  many  of 
whom  were  men  of  distinguished  ability  and 
eminent  standing. 

His  popularity  was  in  some  degree  attributable 
to  the  energetic  support  he  had  given  to  the  war, 
but  no  small  portion  of  it  was  unquestionably 
owing  to  his  talents  and  eloquence.  On  the  4th 
of  July  next  preceding  his  election,  he  delivered 
an  oration,  as  the  organ  of  the  democratic  party, 
which  was  considered  by  all  who  heard  it  a 
magnificent  display  of  oratory,  and  which  had  a 
most  important  influence  upon  the  rising  fortunes 
of  its  author. 

Mr.  Hayne  was  distinguished  in  this  new  sphere 


ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE.  115 

of  action,  as  well  by  his  sound  judgment  and  good 
statesmanship,  as  by  his  eloquence.  As  chairman 
of  the  military  committee,  which  he  became  on 
his  first  taking  his  seat  in  the  house,  and  espe- 
cially as  quarter-master-general  of  the  State,  to 
which  office  he  was  about  the  same  time  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor,  he  rendered  the  most 
important  services  ;  and  his  zeal  for  the  public  in- 
terest led  him  to  act  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
general  business  of  legislation. 

After  he  had  been  five  years  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  that  body  testified  its 
appreciation  of  his  talents  and  character,  by 
unanimously  electing  him  to  preside  over  its  deli- 
berations. Never  before  was  one  so  young  called 
to  the  chair,  and  the  unanimous  election  of  Mr. 
Hayne  was  certainly  a  most  distinguished  honor. 
As  a  proof  of  the  acceptance  with  which  he  dis- 
charged the  duties  thus  imposed  upon  him,  he  was 
elected  attorney-general  of  the  State,  by  the  le- 
gislature over  which  he  had  presided,  at  the  close 
of  the  session  in  which  he  was  called  to  the  chair. 
Soon  after,  President  Monroe  offered  him  the  ap- 
pointment of  United  States'  attorney  for  the 
district  of  South  Carolina,  which  he  declined. 

Mr.  Hayne  held  the  office  of  attorney-gene- 
ral till  December,  1822,  when,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
one,  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  At  the  expiration  of  his  first  term  he  was 
re-elected,  and  continued  a  member  till  December, 


110  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE. 

1832.  It  was  here  that  he  became  known  to  the 
nation  at  large.  That  dignified  body  afforded  a 
suitable  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  genius  ;  and 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  no  member  ever  left 
it  with  a  more  brilliant  reputation. 

The  limits  of  the  present  sketch  do  not  per- 
mit a  particular  notice  of  Mr.  Hayne's  course  in 
the  Senate.  He  was  strenuously  devoted  to  what 
were  regarded  as  the  peculiar  interests  of  the 
South.  The  tariff,  which,  soon  after  he  entered 
the  Senate,  became  the  leading  topic  of  discus- 
sion, found  in  him  a  determined  and  energetic  op- 
ponent. In  common  with  most  southern  states- 
men, he  held  that  measure  to  be  tyrannical  and 
unconstitutional,  and  in  his  speech  against  it  in 
1824.  he  made  a  luminous  exposition  of  the  views 
of  South  Carolina  in  regard  to  the  ruinous  ten- 
dencies of  the  protective  system.  As  chairman 
of  the  naval  committee  he  rendered  the  most  im- 
portant service  to  the  navy,  and  much  of  the 
present  efficiency  of  that  arm  of  the  public  de- 
fence is  owing  to  his  patriotic  exertions. 

It  was  in  1832  that  the  great  debate  took  place 
in  the  Senate,  in  which  Mr.  Hayne  was  so  illus- 
triously distinguished.  A  resolution  had  been  in- 
troduced by  Mr.  Foote  of  Connecticut,  respect- 
ing the  surveys  of  the  public  lands.  The  debate 
which  arose  upon  this  resolution  drew  within  its 
circle  the  great  question  of  the  right  of  a  State 
to  resist  a  law  of  Congress, — a  question  at  that 


ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE. 


period  of  absorbing  interest,  and  universally  re- 
garded as  involving  the  integrity  of  the  Union. 
Mr.  Hayne  advocated  the  well  known  South 
Carolina  doctrine,  and  he  was  opposed  by  Mr. 
Webster. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  enlarge  on  the  circumstan- 
ces and  character  of  this  debate  ;  they  are  famil- 
iarly known  to  the  whole  country.  No  contest 
of  equal  interest  ever  occurred  in  the  halls  of 
Congress,  whether  regard  be  had  to  the  unrivalled 
powers  of  the  parties  engaged,  the  intense  excite- 
ment which  pervaded  the  nation,  or  the  unparal- 
leled importance  of  the  subject  of  debate. 

It  is  unnecessary  here  to  express  an  opinion  of 
the  comparative  ability  displayed  on  this  memo- 
rable occasion.  The  friends  of  the  two  great 
champions  respectively,  have  always  regarded 
their  arguments  as  unanswerable.  If  it  be  true, 
that  the  logic  of  the  "  great  constitutional  lawyer" 
was  irresistible,  and  the  famous  peroration  of  his 
closing  speech  unequalled  in  the  annals  of  Ameri- 
can oratory,  it  is  no  less  true  that  Mr.  Hayne's 
reply  was  characterized  by  a  fiery,  impetuous, 
overwhelming  eloquence  which  has  never  been 
surpassed. 

The  latter  part  of  the  year  1832,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  1833,  gave  birth  to  events  not  likely 
to  be  forgotten.  A  strong  feeling  of  self-interest 
in  South  Carolina  urged  on  the  opposition  to  the 
protective  policy  to  the  verge  of  revolution. 


118  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE. 

The  Legislature,  in  special  session,  called  a  con- 
vention, of  which  Mr.  Hayne  was  a  member,  "  to 
determine  the  character"  of  the  tariff,  and  "  to 
devise  means  of  redress."  On  the  24th  of  No- 
vember, that  body  passed  the  celebrated  ordin- 
ance of  Nullification. 

It  was  now  generally  apprehended  that  a  fear- 
ful collision  was  approaching  between  South 
Carolina  and  the  General  Government.  That 
event,  above  all  others  to  be  deprecated  and  de- 
plored— a  civil  war  between  a  State  and  the 
Union — seemed  at  hand.  In  this  perilous  crisis 
Carolina  re-called  her  favorite  son  from  the  coun- 
cils of  the  nation,  to  take  the  helm  of  state.  On 
the  llth  of  December,  having  resigned  his  seat 
in  the  Senate,  he  was  inaugurated  Governor  of 
the  State.  The  proclamation  of  President  Jack- 
son, issued  on  the  10th,  reached  Charleston  a  very 
few  days  after.  Governor  Hayne  responded,  in 
a  counter-proclamation,  in  a  tone  of  impassioned 
defiance,  declaring  his  determination  to  resist  the 
aggressions  of  tyranny,  from  whatever  quarter 
those  aggressions  should  come,  and,  if  need  were, 
to  shed  his  blood  in  defence  of  his  native  State. 
His  defiance  did  not  expend  itself  in  words.  Ac- 
tive measures  were  taken  to  put  the  State  in  a 
posture  of  defence,  and  a  resolution  manifested 
to  resist  to  the  last  extremity.  These  proceed- 
ings naturally  caused  alarm  for  the  safety  of  the 
Union,  and  induced  the  patriotic  to  endeavor  to 


ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE.  119 

devise  some  mode  of  conciliation.  The  com- 
promise which  was  ultimately  effected  through 
the  exertions  of  an  illustrious  statesman,  is  too 
well  known  to  require  any  farther  allusion.  Peace 
spread  her  benign  wings  over  the  Republic,  and 
the  Union  was  saved. 

Governor  Hayne  continued  to  occupy  the  exe- 
cutive chair  until  the  month  of  December,-  1834. 
In  his  valedictory  message  he  expressed  his  anx- 
ious desire  to  pass  the  residue  of  his  days  in  re- 
tirement. But  in  this  wish  he  was  not  indulged. 
In  the  summer  of  1836,  he  was  elected  president 
of  the  "  Louisville,  Cincinnati,  and  Charleston 
Railroad,"  a  great  work  intended  to  connect  the 
south  and  the  west,  and  secure  to  Charleston  a 
participation  in  the  trade  of  the  Mississippi  valley. 

Mr.  Hayne  died  at  Asheville,  North  Carolina, 
on  the  24th  day  of  September,  1839.  He  had 
gone  to  that  place  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the 
directors  of  the  railroad,  when  he  was  seized 
with  a  fever  which  terminated  his  existence  at 
the  age  of  48.  His  early  and  lamented  demise 
cast  the  deepest  gloom  over  his  native  State,  and 
caused  an  indescribable  sensation  throughout  the 
south.  The  whole  country  participated  in  the 
grief  at  his  loss,  and  in  the  regret  that  a  states- 
man of  rare  and  brilliant  genius  was  cut  down  in 
the  noon  of  his  day. 

Mr.  Hayne's  life,  though  not  protracted,  was 
full  of  activity,  distinction,  and  glory.  At  the 


120  ROBERT  Y.  HAYNE. 

bar,  in  the  senate,  in  the  executive  chair,  he 
acted  his  part — often  one  of  unparalleled  diffi- 
culty— with  distinguished  honor.  Those  who  dif- 
fered most  widely  from  him  in  opinion,  never 
doubted  the  purity  of  his  motives,  or  the  integ- 
rity of  his  character ;  and  when  he  fell  beneath 
the  hand  of  death,  the  grief  was  deep  and  uni- 
versal. 


121 


RICHARD  BACON,  JR. 

BY    C.    W.    EVEREST. 

"  All  thy  fond  hopes  to  disappointment  doomed  ! 
Thine  expectations  all  cut  off- — thyself 
Left  in  thy  prime  to  wither,  like  the  bud, 
The  flower-hud  rich  of  promise,  by  the  frost 
Cut  off  untimely !"  *         *         *         *         * 

IT  is  not  strange  that  the  sentiment  should  so 
early  have  prevailed,  that  those  endowed  with 
peculiar  talents  were  marked  by  Heaven  for  an 
early  doom.  We  would  by  no  means  be  under- 
stood to  assert  it  as  our  own  belief,  or  to  say  that 
there  is  any  just  warrant  for  such  a  deduction. 
But  is  it  not  true,  that  many,  very  many,  whose 
morning  life  has  given  promise  of  a  glorious  day, 
have  fallen  as  it  were  on  the  very  threshold  of 
being  ?  Nay,  more  :  is  it  not  true,  when  we  con- 
sider the  relative  proportion  of  their  numbers,  that 
humanity  is  oftener  called  to  bend  over  the  untime- 
ly bier  of  the  child  of  genius,  than  over  him  of  com- 
mon mould  ?  We  believe  experience  will  justify 
an  affirmative  response  to  the  question :  and  no 
more  common  lamentation  of  the  bard  is  heard, 
than  for  those  who  are  early  called  from  the 
scenes  of  their  high  hopes  to  sleep  in  forget- 
ful slumber.  If  a  cause  is  sought,  doubtless  a 
11 


122  RICHARD   BACON,  JR. 

ready  one  can  be  found  in  the  constitutional  tem- 
perament of  the  gifted.  It  is  indeed  idle  to  claim 
that  genius,  merely  of  itself,  should  be  doomed  of 
Heaven.  But  the  mass  of  mankind  stop  not  for 
philosophical  accuracy.  Too  often  is  the  "  causa 
non  pro  canst?  alleged  in  their  'investigations. 
And  when  we  consider  the  number  and  the  cha- 
racter of  those  who  in  life's  morning  put  on  their 
robes  of  immortality,  we  must  cease  to  marvel  at 
the  sentiment — for  indeed  our  own  hearts  will 
sometimes  respond  to  it — "  Whom  the  gods  love, 
die  young !" 

We  have  chosen  the  subject  of  our  present 
sketch  not  so  much  for  a  biographical  memoir,  as 
to  confer  a  merited  tribute  to  the  memory  of  a 
well-beloved  friend.  He  was  of  those  who  feel 
the  stirrings  of  an  ambitious  and  richly  endowed 
spirit  within  them,  but  to  whom  it  is  not  permitted 
to  enter  engagedly  in  the  ranks  of  those  who 
wage  a  warfare  for  renown.  He  listened  to  the 
clarion  call  of  Fame,  and  he  pined  in  spirit  for  the 
contest.  But  a  strong  hand  held  him  back ;  and 
his  only  record  is  with 

"  Those,  the  young  and  brave,  who  cherished 

Noble  longings  for  the  strife  ; 
By  the  road-side  fell  and  perished, 
Weary  with  the  march  of  life !" 

RICHARD  BACON,  JR.,  was  born  at  Northington, 
(a  small  parish  of  Farmington,)  now  Avon,  in  the 


RICHARD    BACON,  JR.  123 

State  of  Connecticut.  His  family,  soon  after  his 
birth,  removed  to  the  town  of  Simsbury,  in  the 
same  State  :  and  here  the  subject  of  our  sketch 
passed  the  chief  part  of  his  life.  He  evinced  at 
an  early  age  an  unusual  fondness  for  study,  and 
began  to  develope  a  mind  of  superior  ability. 
Circumstances,  however,  seemed  to  forbid  his  at- 
taining a  liberal  education.  After  reaping  all  the 
advantages  he  could  derive  from  an  attendance 
upon  the  common  schools,  he  was  removed  to  the 
grammar-school  at  Hartford,  one  of  the  oldest, 
and  probably  the  best,  of  the  preparatory  schools 
in  the  State.  Here  he  remained  for  some  time, 
and  applied  himself  assiduously  to  the  usual  course 
of  a  thorough  "  English  education,"  as  also  to  the 
study  of  the  Latin  language.  With  his  departure 
from  this  institution,  closed  the  most  of  his  acade- 
mic studies.  He  had  long  before  imbibed  a  strong 
taste  for  reading,  and  general  literary  pursuits. 
This  he  had  cultivated  to  as  great  an  extent  as 
his  other  studies  would  permit ;  and  he  now  gave 
his  entire  leisure  to  an  attentive  perusal  of  the 
standard  English  authors,  as  also  to  the  literature 
of  our  own  country.  Poetry  was  his  chief  de- 
light. Though  the  modesty  of  his  genius  for  a 
long  time  kept  the  fact  in  concealment,  circum- 
stances at  length  declared  him  to  have  been  a  not 
unwelcomed  worshipper  at  the  shrine  of  theMuses. 
We  have  before  remarked  that  the  greater  part 
of  our  author's  life  was  passed  in  the  town  of 


124  RICHARD    BACON,  JR. 

Simsbury.  Soon  after  he  closed  his  academic 
course,  and  while  he  was  anxious  to  enter  upon 
the  studies  of  a  profession,  he  began  to  suffer  from 
an  inflammation  of  the  eyes.  This  entirely  de- 
feated his  plans.  It  gave  a  character  to  his  whole 
after-life,  and  in  some  measure,  we  fear,  caused 
his  premature  death.  Baffled  in  his  pursuit  of  a 
profession,  he  attempted  other  occupations,  which 
seemed  not  to  clash  with  his  bodily  affliction,  in 
the  hope  that  time  would  restore  the  use  of  his 
eyes  again,  and  yet  suffer  him  to  attain  the  object 
of  his  wishes.  He  remained  a  twelve-month  in 
Hartford,  and  nearly  two  years  in  New  York, 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits.  But  his  dif- 
ficulties seemed  rather  to  be  increased  than 
removed  thereby ;  and  disappointed,  and  sick  at 
heart,  he  returned  to  the  quiet  of  his  paternal 
mansion.  Here  his  literary  pursuits  were  renew- 
ed with  redoubled  vigor.  When  his  own  failing 
sight  could  not  minister  to  his  desires,  his  kind 
sisters  would  engage  his  leisure  by  reading  to 
him,  and  assisting  to  write  out  and  copy  the  pro- 
ductions of  his  own  fancy. 

It  was  at  this  period  of  his  life  that  we  became 
personally  acquainted  with  Bacon.  He  gave  us 
his  entire  confidence,  and  a  friendship  was  formed 
which  grew  stronger  to  the  day  of  his  death. 
We  never  met  with  a  warmer  heart,  or  a  hand 
which  pressed  a  more  cordial  welcome.  We  soon 
saw  that  his  affliction  was  a  trial  hard  indeed  to 


RICHARD    BACON,    JR.  125 

bear.  He  heard  the  strife  of  the  great  world 
around  him,  while  he  was  compelled  to  be  an  un- 
welcome lingerer  from  its  busy  scenes.  Still,  he 
did  not  complain.  Though  it  was  painfully  evi- 
dent that  his  mind  was  not  fully  in  unison  with 
the  quietude  of  his  situation,  Hope  cheered  him 
with  her  whisperings  of  brighter  days  to  come. 
Besides,  he  found  many  ingredients  of  happiness 
in  his  cup.  Of  a  warm  and  social  disposition — 
he  was  surrounded  by  a  family  which  he  loved  : 
a  devotee  of  literature — time  and  opportunity 
enabled  him  to  indulge  in  his  favorite  pursuits, 
though  under  some  discouragements  it  is  true :  a 
child  of  Nature — he  could  rove  at  will  amid  her 
most  wild  and  enchanting  scenes.  As  our  ac- 
quaintance ripened  to  intimacy,  we  found  as  much 
to  admire  in  his  poetical  taste  and  talents,  as  we 
had  already  found  to  love  in  his  social  tempera- 
ment and  virtues.  His  chief  fault  as  a  poet — and 
it  is  a  common  one  with  young  writers — was  a  re- 
dundance of  fancy.  Against  this — for  he  soon  be- 
came sensible  of  it — he  was  very  careful  to  guard. 
He  composed  with  enthusiasm,  and  then  in  cooler 
moments  gave  himself  to  the  task  of  severe  revi- 
sion. He  would  write  and  re-write  a  piece  with 
great  care,  and  even  then  seemed  loth  to  part 
with  it.  He  published  but  little.  He  shrunk  in- 
stinctively from  notoriety,  and  when  he  did  pub- 
lish, he  gave  no  clue  to  the  authorship  of  his  ar- 
ticle. We  doubt  if  he  ever  published  two  articles 
11* 


126  RICHARD    BACON,  JR. 

over  the  same  signature ;  consequently,  to  the 
great  public  he  was  unknown.  Beyond  the  circle 
of  his  own  personal  friends,  Bacon  was  not  recog- 
nized as  a  poet.  We  feel  tempted  to  give  in  this 
connexion  the  first  article  which  our  author  gave 
to  the  public,  that  the  reader  may  judge  whether 
personal  friendship  has  misjudged  his  talent : 


THE   WINDS. 

Waves  of  an  ocean,  viewless,  yet  sublime  ! 

Which  finds  no  strand  save  starry  isles  ye  lave, 
In  your  cool  waters  bathed  the  infant  Time — 

Your  chainless  surge  shall  roll  above  his  grave ! 
For  of  your  birth  we  ask  the  sacred  page  ; 

It  lends  no  answer  to  our  questing  tone  : 
Chaos'  black  realms  ye  deluged  in  your  rage, 

Loosed  from  the  hand  outstretched  from  Heaven's  high 
throne ! 

"  God  said,  let  there  be  light !"  With  sunny  glance 

The  young  waves  wooed  you  as  ye  passed  along  ; 
Stretched  forth  their  hand  to  join  you  in  the  dance, 

To  joyous  music  from  the  starry  throng  ! 
Oh  blessed  hours  !  Through  Eden's  blissful  grove, 

In  gentlest  Zephyrs,  'mong  the  flowers  ye  flew ; 
Stirred  Eve's  long  tresses  as  she  sang  of  love, 

And  brushed  her  bosom  of  the  pearly  dew. 

The  Sun  has  laws :  the  Ocean's  heaving  tide 

In  dread  obedience  only  dares  to  roll : 
No  power  is  swayed  to  bound  your  restless  pride — 

Ye  soar  on  high,  fit  emblem  of  the  soul. 


RICHARD    BACON,    JR.  127 

Down  charnel  depths,  where  fated  stars  have  gone, 

Hurled  from  their  place  in  Heaven,  ye  grope  your  way; 

Trample  in  dust  the  Pleiad's  skeleton, 
And  hold  wild  revel  on  the  rotting  clay. 

Kissing  the  tear-drops  from  the  blushing  Spring, 

In  gentle  dalliance  joyous  on  ye  linger, 
Pluming  your  pinions  from  the  trembling  string, 

Yielding  rich  music  'neath  the  minstrel's  finger  ! 
Oh  !  I  have  thought  as  on  my  ear  ye  crept, 

Soothing  with  whispered  tale  the  drooping  flowers, 
That  dreaming  Nature  murmured,  as  she  slept, 

Some  cherished  memory  of  her  childhood's  hours  ! 

Pressing  the  lip  to  silence,  soft  ye  tread, 

When  Love  attendant  opes  the  lattice  wide  ; 
Bathe  the  hot  temples  of  the  sick  man's  head, 

And  woo  sweet  slumber  to  the  sufferer's  side ! 
Kind  Ministers  !  ye  cool  the  cheek  of  Care, 

The  old  man's  brow,  the  maniac's  tortured  brain  ; 
Ye  pass  the  prison  grate,  and  wan  Despair 

Smiles  at  your  touch,  forgetful  of  his  chain  ! 

How  changed  !  the  scarf  of  empire  on  your  breast, 

The  thunder  fettered  to  your  cloudy  car, 
Ye  rouse  to  fury  Ocean  from  his  rest, 

And  hurl  the  oak  with  hideous  howl  afar ! 
Dread  Ministers  !  For  now  your  work  is  death ! 

The  crash  of  the  proud  ship  to  ruin  driven — 
The  shriek — the  groan — the  prayer — the  gurgling  breath — 

Are  in  your  keeping ; — bear  them  all  to  Heaven ! 

We  might  add  other  articles  equally  excellent 
— for  we  have  many  at  hand — but  our  limits  for- 
bid.  We  doubt  not,  in  the  judgment  of  all  who 


128  RICHARD    BACON,    JR. 

read  our  sketch,  the  above  will  be  deemed  the 
fruit  of  genius  of  no  common  order.  For  such 
we  ever  deemed  Bacon's  to  be.  We  confidently 
looked  forward  to  the  day  when  his  name  would 
hold  a  proud  place  among  the  talented  ones  of 
our  country,  and  that'  day  a  no  far  distant  one. 
Who  that  then  knew  him  could  have  thought  that 
that  voice  would  so  soon  be  tuneless,  and  that 
mind  so  soon  have  its  full  developement  in  a 
better  world. 

During  our  collegiate  days,  we  were  separated 
but  a  short  distance  from  our  friend.  Scarcely  a 
week  went  by  without  bringing  him  to  our 
lodgings,  or  taking  ourself  to  his  own  "  happy 
valley."  Those  winged  hours  of  social  converse, 
and  those  rambles  over  hill  and  dale,  are  and  ever 
will  be  among  the  greenest  spots  in  the  waste  of 
memory.  But  time  separated  us.  Business  at 
last  called  him  away  on  a  distant  tour ;  and  soon 
after  we  had  left  college  our  face  was  turned 
southward.  While  waiting  in  New  York  the 
sailing-day  of  our  packet,  we  were  agreeably 
surprised  by  meeting  unexpectedly  with  our  old 
friend  again.  We  had  thought  him  many  an 
hundred  miles  away,  and  the  meeting  was  con- 
sequently the  more  cheering.  After  a  hurried 
conversation  upon  topics  of  mutual  interest,  he 
abruptly  expressed  a  fear  "  that  he  was  becoming 
deranged !"  It  seemed  a  strange  assertion,  and 
we  gave  no  heed  to  it.  We  wonder  now  that 


RICHARD    BACON,    JR.  129 

our  own  fears  were  not  excited  :  for  there  cer- 
tainly was  much  that  was  unusual  in  his  manner, 
and  he  had  a  wild  scheme  planned  for  his  future 
course,  which  seemed  very  unreasonable,  and 
from  which  we  endeavored  to  dissuade  him. 
There  was  a  mystery  about  him.  Something 
weighed  like  lead  upon  his  spirits  ;  but  we  thought 
it  a  morbid  mood,  which  would  pass  away.  We 
urged  him  to  return  home,  but  apparently  in  vain. 
He  seemed  bent  on  his  wild  enterprise,  and  bade 
us  adieu  with  the  design  of  engaging  in  it.  Little 
thought  we  that  his  melancholy  prediction  was 
true  !  Little  thought  we  that  his  warm  hand 
would  soon  be  cold  in  death,  and  his  warm  heart 
lie  still  beneath  the  clods  of  the  valley !  His 
hearty  "  God  bless  you !"  lingered  in  our  ears, 
and  we  felt  that  we  were  parting  with  our  best 
and  truest  friend.  A  few  days  went  by,  and  .we 
were  again  surprised,  by  the  reception  of  a  letter 
from  Bacon,  dated  at  his  home,  in  Simsbury.  It 
was  brief  and  hurried,  and  some  part  of  it  was 
entirely  unintelligible.  We  attributed  such  part, 
however,  to  a  merry  mood,  rather  than  to  any 
more  serious  cause.  We  gathered  from  it  that 
the  matter  which  had  weighed  so  heavily  upon 
his  spirits  when  we  had  last  seen  him,  was  satis- 
factorily removed,  and  all  was  well  with  him.  We 
wonder  now  at  our  blindness.  The  very  assurance 
he  gave  of  the  removal  of  his  difficulty,  so  singu- 
lar were  many  circumstances  connected  with  it, 


130  RICHARD    BACON,    JR. 

should  have  given  us  alarm.  But  we  were  satis- 
fied, and  the  epistle  was  laid  aside  to  await  the 
leisure  of  a  future  day. 

When  we  reached  our  place  of  destination, 
various  causes  conspired  to  make  us  for  a  time 
neglectful  of  our  distant  friend.  At  length  our 
grateful  duty  was  undertaken.  It  was  New 
Year's — and  our  thoughts  were  busy  with  Bacon. 
He  had  not  been  forgotten,  though  for  a  time  ne- 
glected. Ere  the  holidays  had  gone,  we  deter- 
mined to  greet  him  with  a  hearty  remembrance. 
Alas !  we  recked  not  of  the  trial  in  store  for  us  ! 
Before  those  holidays  were  ended,  and  while  our 
heart  was  revelling  in  the  past,  and  memory  was 
busy  with  its  scenes  so  dear,  and  with  him,  the 
dearest  object  of  those  scenes — we  received  an 
unwelcome  letter  from  the  father  of  our  friend. 
Bacon  was  no  more  !  He  whom  we  loved  with 
more  than  a  brother's  love,  was  slumbering  un- 
conscious of  our  sorrow  !  Never  sank  our  heart 
as  at  these  sad  tidings,  and  we  wept  like  a  broken- 
hearted child  ! 

Poor  Bacon  !  There  was  too  much  truth  in 
his  mournful  assertion.  He  was  indeed  deranged  ! 
It  might  be,  as  he  stated  in  his  letter  before  allud- 
ed to — probably  the  last  he  wrote — that  his  mental 
difficulty,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  was  re- 
moved. But  it  had  done  a  fearful  work,  and  its 
effects  were  fatal.  His  family  had  hope  that  re- 
pose and  quiet  would  restore  him.  But  each 


RICHARD    BACON,  JR.  131 

succeeding  day  only  increased  his  malady.  His 
noble  mind  was  unhinged — his  fancy  ranged  with 
frantic  wildness — and  the  sands  of  life  hastened 
to  their  last.  His  mental  sufferings  were  intense, 
and  his  imagination — too  skilfully  cultivated — be- 
came his  tormentor. 

"  Then  the  haunting  visions  rose, 

Spectres  round  his  spirit's  throne  : 
Poet !  what  can  paint  thy  woes, 
But  a  pencil  like  thine  own !" 

He  had  conceived  the  plan  of  a  majestic  poem, 
which  he  never  executed,  entitled  "  THE  DEATH- 
BED OF  HOPE,"  and  now  he  spoke  of  it  with  feel- 
ings of  agony.  "  Strange  !"  he  would  exclaim  ; 
"  was  it  not  strange  I  should  have  thought  of  that 
subject  ?  Now  I  see  it  all :  /  am  without  hope  /" 

Thus  did  he  suffer,  and  thus  did  his  malady  in- 
crease, that  in  a  few  weeks  his  family  deemed  it 
advisable  to  remove  him  to  the  "  Insane  Retreat," 
at  Hartford.  Poor  Bacon  !  what  sufferings  were 
thine  !  Conscious  of  the  past — yet  conscious  of 
the  madness  which  was  destroying  thee  !  But 
his  sufferings  were  not  long  protracted.  On  the 
29th  of  December,  1838,  not  three  weeks  from 
the  day  of  his  admission  to  the  institution,  his 
spirit  passed  gently  and  composedly  away — and  in 
full  possession  of  its  former  powers — we  may 
trust,  to  an  everlasting  rest.  His  remains  were 
brought  back  to  Simsbury,  and  on  the  1st  of  Jan- 


132  RICHARD    BACON,  JB. 

uary,  1839,  amid  the  scenes  of  his  pleasant  boy- 
hood, attended  by  a  weeping  throng  of  friends 
and  kindred,  "  he  made  his  cold  bed  with  the 
grave  of  the  year  !" 

Thus  perished,  at  the  age  of  24,  one  of  the 
noblest  hearts  that  ever  went  down  to  death,  in 
the  pride  of  manhood.  Our  own  feelings  it  were 
vain  to  describe.  All  other  griefs  which  we  had 
known  seemed  trifling  in  comparison  with  this. 

"  We  had  lived  and  loved  together 
Through  many  changing  years  :" 

And  now  that  our  friend  was  snatched  away,  and 
in  so  mournful  a  manner — dwelling  in  the  dreary 
loneliness  of  a  maniac's  habitation — unable  fully 
to  realize  the  rich  blessing  of  his  fond  parents' 
sympathy,  and  his  brothers'  and  sisters'  sorrow — 
and  thus,  by  the  peculiar  sadness  of  his  disease, 
dying,  as  it  were,  alone,  in  solitary  anguish, — it 
was  hard,  hard  indeed  to  bear  !  The  burden  of 
our  grief  was  like  the  boy's  sorrow  for  his  first 
playmate — 

"  Oh  call  my  brother  back  to  me — I  cannot  play  alone  !" 

We  annex  the  following  tribute  to  his  memory 
certain  that  if  it  has  no  other  merit  to  commend 
it,  it  has  that  of  honest  sorrow  for  worth  well  be- 
loved and  genius  untimely  blasted.  It  was  the 
unstudied  lament  of  a  friend,  for  one  most  dear — 


RICHARD    BACON,  JR.  133 

and  we  add  it  with  the  regret  that  a  worthier 
minstrel  has  not  bewailed  him  with  a  worthier 
lay! 

STANZAS    TO    THE    MEMORY    OF    RICHARD    BACON,    JR. 

Friend  of  my  soul !  while  yet  I  hear 

Thy  kindly  voice's  farewell  tone — 
Thou  sleepest  with  the  slumbering  year, 

And  wintry  winds  above  thee  moan : 
Gone  with  thy  genius'  kindling  fire — 

Thy  manhood's  glorious  promise  vain  : 
And  I  must  tune  my  mournful  lyre, 

To  breathe  for  thee  a  funeral  strain  ! 

Ah !  feebly  roams  my  hand  along, 

O'er  trembling  chords  to  sadness  strung ; 
For  thee,  thou  child  of  joyous  song, 

How  can  the  solemn  dirge  be  sung  ? — 
Full  oft  my  lyre  its  notes  of  woe 

Hath  waked,  when  griefs  my  soul  would  bend : 
How  shall  I  bid  its  numbers  flow 

For  thee,  my  best,  familiar  friend  ! 

Thou  art  not  dead!     I  see  thee  still ! 

For  Memory  wakes  her  magic  power ; 
Again  we  climb  the  wooded  hill, 

Or  seek  the  valley's  vine-clad  bower  : 
Now  by  the  wild  brook's  prattling  stream" 

We  rove,  with  careless  spirits  blest — 
Or  watch  the  day-god's  parting  gleam 

Gush  from  the  chambers  of  the  west ! 

Tis  noontide,  in  the  leafy  June ! 
Beneath  some  tall  tree's  fragrant  shade — 
12 


134  RICHARD    BACON,   JH. 

Where  soft  winds  breathe  a  whispered  tune, 
Our  forms  along  the  turf  are  laid : 

And  there,  while  griefs  and  care  retire, 
And  we  in  peace,  alone,  recline — 

Thou  kindly  list'st  my  simple  lyre, 
And  I  do  joyous  list  to  thine  ! 

The  autumn's  pensive  days  have  come, 

And  Death  o'er  Nature's  bloom  hath  past : 
Among  the  funeral  woods  we  roam, 

Where  leaves  are  rustling  on  the  blast : 
And  while  the  breeze  goes  wailing  by, 

And  trees  their  leafless  branches  wave — 
We  muse  how  Life's  bright  hopes  must  die, 

And  man  lie  slumbering  in  the  grave  ! 

Alas  !  alas !  and  thou  art  dead ! 

The  friend  su  true — beloved  so  well ! 
While  Hope  her  wildest  visions  spread — 

Fond  Memory !  cease  thy  magic  spell ! 
There's  gloom  along  thy  mountain's  side, 

And  by  thy  free  brook's  pebbly  shore—- 
There's sadness  in  thy  summer's  pride, 

For  thou,  my  friend,  will  come  no  more  ! 

And  thou  didst  die,  in  manhood's  prime, 

From  home  and  fond  delights  away  : 
While  I  beneath  a  distant  clime, 

Was  doomed  in  loneliness  to  stray  ! 
I  might  not  mark  thy  gathering  care — 

When  sickness,  lone,  thy  form  did  bow  : 
Nor  cheer  thy  sorrowing  heart's  despair, 

Nor  wipe  the  death-damp  fronTthy  brow  ! 

And  thou  dost  sleep  that  hallowed  sleep, 
Which  Earth  may  ne'er  disturb  again  : 


RICHARD    BACON,  JR.  135 

No  more  thy  sorrowing  eye  shall  weep — 
No  more  thy  bosom  throb  with  pain ! 

And  oft  at  morn,  at  noon,  and  eve, 

With  pensive  steps  will  mourners  come — 

Alone,  o'er  buried  hopes  to  grieve, 
And  weep  above  thy  narrow  home ! 

But  now,  farewell ! — hard — hard  to  speak, 

To  one  of  heart  so  true  as  thine  : 
These  flowing  tears  adown  my  cheek, 

Too  well  proclaim  the  grief  of  mine  ! 
In  yon  bright  heaven  a  glorious  rest 

We  trust  henceforth  pertains  to  thee  ; 
But  the  cold  turf  which  wraps  thy  breast, 

Is  all  that  now  remains  to  me ! 


136 


THE  CHEVALIER  DE  GERSTNER. 


BY    W.    M.    GILLESFIE. 


A  PROMINENT  peculiarity  of  the  American  people 
is  the  earnest  skill  with  which  they  improve  every 
useful  invention,  originating  cither  at  home  or 
abroad.  While  the  rolls  of  the  Patent  Office  tes- 
tify to  their  original  inventive  genius,  their  re- 
markable facility  of  improving  and  extending  the 
discoveries  of  others  can  be  vouched  for  by  many 
a  foreign  inventor,  who  sees  the  child  of  his  brain, 
which  he  had  sent  into  the  world  quite  perfect  as 
he  fondly  thought,  seized  upon  by  some  ingenious 
American,  and  so  bettered,  adapted  and  trans- 
formed, that  its  astonished  and  mortified  author 
can  scarcely  recognize  his  own  progeny.  RAIL- 
ROADS form  a  striking  illustration  of  this  national 
characteristic.  The  imperfect  tram-roads  of  the 
English  collieries  have  been  developed  in  this 
country  till  they  form  an  iron  bond  of  union  five 
thousand  miles  long  ;  and  such  is  the  perfection 
and  ingenuity  which  their  construction  here  dis- 
plays, that  they  have  been  the  objects  of  the  visits 
and  study  of  many  distinguished  engineers  from 
abroad.  England,  France  and  Russia  have  thus 
been  well  represented  ;  and  we  have  now  to  la- 


THE    CHEVALIER    DE    GERSTXER.  137 

ment  the  death  of  a  scientific  and  able  Austrian 
engineer,  whose  acknowledged  talents  and  pro- 
fessional enthusiasm  justified  us  in  expecting  addi- 
tional valuable  results  from  his  investigations. 

Francis  Anthony,  CHEVALIER  DE  GERSTXEH,  was 
born  at  Prague  in  Bohemia,  April  17th,  1796. 
His  father  was  the  founder  of  the  polytechnic 
school  in  that  city,  and  was  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished practical  mathematicians  of  his  day. 
The  young  M.  de  Gerstner  having  been  educated 
under  such  auspices,  was  appointed,  when  but 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  professor  of  practical 
geometry  in  the  polytechnic  school  of  Vienna, 
which  post  he  filled  for  six  years.  But  the  prac- 
tical bent  of  his  mind  soon  displayed  itself,  and 
led  him  to  apply  to  actual  usefulness  his  mathe- 
matical theories.  A  railroad  connecting  the 
Moldau  with  the  Danube  was  then  projected,  as 
a  part  of  a  great  chain  uniting  the  German  ocean 
with  the  Black  sea.  This  led  M.  de  Gerstner  to 
visit  England  in  1822,  to  examine  the  internal 
improvements  of  that  country.  Upon  his  return 
he  obtained  a  charter  for  a  railroad  from  Bud- 
weis  on  the  Moldau  to  Lintz  on  the  Danube,  and 
patriotically  commenced  the  work  at  his  own 
risk.  It  was,  however,  subsequently  completed 
by  a  company.  It  is  the  first  which  was  executed 
on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  is  one  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  in  length. 
12* 


138  THE    CHEVALIER    DE    GERSTNER. 

In  1829,  he  prepared  for  publication  a  work  on 
mechanics,  combining  the  substance  of  his  father's 
lectures  with  the  results  of  his  own  practice.  It 
appeared  in  three  quarto  volumes,  with  many 
plates,  and  in  spite  of  its  expensive  character,  its 
sale  in  Germany  amounted  to  three  thousand 
copies.  The  technical  reviews  and  scientific 
journals  united  in  praising  in  the  highest  terms 
both  the  matter  of  the  work  and  the  manner  of 
its  treatment. 

In  1834,  the  Chevalier  de  Gerstner  visited  Rus- 
sia, and  after  familiarizing  himself  with  the  nature 
and  resources  of  the  country,  laid  before  the  em- 
peror Nicholas  the  project  of  a  railroad  from  St. 
Petersburg  to  Moscow.  Circumstances  would 
not  then  allow  the  full  execution  of  this  plan,  but 
a  small  portion  of  the  road  was  completed  in  a 
manner  highly  creditable  to  the  scientific  skill  of 
the  engineer ;  and  the  subsequent  plans  of  the  em- 
peror for  binding  together  with  these  iron  chains 
the  widely  separated  portions  of  his  vast  empire, 
are  doubtless  due  in  a  great  degree  to  the  sug- 
gestions of  his  professional  adviser. 

The  Chevalier  de  Gerstner  had  made  frequent 
visits  to  England  with  a  view  to  improvement  in 
his  profession,  and  in  1838  put  into  execution  a 
long-cherished  project  of  visiting  the  United 
States.  After  travelling  through  Germany,  Hol- 
land, France,  Belgium,  and  England,  he  reached 


THE  CHEVALIER  DE  GERSTNER.        139 

this  country  in  the  steamer  Great  Western  in  No- 
vember of  that  year. 

He  eagerly  commenced  his  examination  of  our 
public  works,  and  from  that  time  devoted  himself 
unceasingly  to  the  collection  of  information  res- 
pecting them.  He  personally  visited  and  inspect- 
ed all  the  important  railroads  and  canals,  and  by 
free  intercourse  with  their  engineers,  directors, 
&c.,  (to  whose  courtesy  and  ability  he  bore  full 
testimony,)  he  obtained  copious  materials  for  a 
work  upon  their  construction,  management,  and 
fiscal  state.  For  such  a  task,  his  past  life  ren- 
dered him  peculiarly  suitable.  He  combined  in  a 
remarkable  degree,  scientific  and  mathematical 
knowledge  with  practical  skill  and  experience ; 
and,  from  his  statistical  habitudes  of  mind,  and  his 
familiarity  with  European  works  of  a  like  nature, 
could,  with  unusual  fairness  and  justice,  compare 
them  with  those  of  America. 

Of  these  qualities  he  gave  proof,  in  a  brochure 
on  Belgian  railroads,  which  he  published  while 
at  Cincinnati.  In  it  he  classifies  and  expounds 
the  satisfactory  results  of  that  government  enter- 
prise, and  attributes  its  great  pecuniary  success 
to  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  low  fares. 
This  is  a  doctrine  which  all  travellers  will  vouch 
to  be  little  practised  in  this  country  ;  and  yet  all 
experience  demonstrates  that  the  reduction  of 
the  rate  of  passage  on  great  thoroughfares, 


140  THE    CHEVALIER    DE    GERSTNER. 

always  increases  the  number  of  those  who  avail 
themselves  of  it,  in  so  great  a  ratio  as  to  render 
the  change  a  source  of  augmented  profit. 

In  the  prefatory  part  of  this  essay,  he  alludes 
to  his  American  investigations,  and  states  that 
the  3,000  miles  of  railroad  then  in  operation  cost 
$60,000,000,  averaging  $20,000  per  mile.  He 
also  gives  the  very  satisfactory  result,  that  while 
their  incomes  varied  considerably,  their  average 
return  was  5^  per  cent,  upon  the  capital,  and  this 
was  increasing  annually  at  the  rate  of  15  to  20 
per  cent,  upon  the  gross  income.  When  we 
consider  that  many  of  the  roads  included  in  his 
estimate  were  planned  and  built  for  the  benefit 
of  the  inhabitants  to  whom  they  gave  an  outlet, 
with  little  regard  to  their  value  as  investments ; 
that  others  were  absurdly  located  by  the  force 
of  speculation,  as  links  between  places  which 
had  no  desire  to  approach,  and  that  others  were 
brought  into  existence  by  the  pernicious  selfish- 
ness of  legislative  log-rolling, — we  may  be  allowed 
to  feel  strong  confidence  in  the  certain  and  great 
productiveness  of  railroads  judiciously  planned 
and  executed. 

The  important  and  useful  work  which  the 
Chevalier  de  Gerstner  was  preparing,  was 
stopped  in  its  progress  by  the  illness  which  at- 
tacked him  in  December,  1839  s  and  on  the  12th 
of  April,  1840,  he  expired  in  Philadelphia.  He 


THE  CHEVALIER  DE  GERSTNER.       141 

left  his  family  in  a  foreign  land  to  the  sympathy 
of  strangers  by  birth,  but  friends  by  the  feelings 
excited  by  his  merits  and  remarkable  kindness  of 
heart  and  manners.  His  death  is  a  loss  to  the 
cause  of  internal  improvement  and  its  accom- 
panying benefits,  not  merely  in  America,  but 
throughout  the  world. 


142 


REV.   DEMETRIUS   A.   GALLITZIN, 

"  THE    PASTOR    OF    THE    ALLEGHANIES." 
BT    CHARLES    CONSTANTINE    PISE,    D.D. 

THE  career  of  this  venerable  ecclesiastic  has 
been  characterized  by  traits  of  a  very  extraordi- 
nary nature.  Destined,  by  birth,  for  the  highest 
honors  in  his  own  country,  he  abandoned  it,  and 
sacrificed  all  his  brightest  anticipations,  in  order 
to  devote  himself  to  the  cause  of  religion  in  the 
New  World.  Nor  did  he  select,  even  here,  a 
conspicuous  theatre  on  which  to  figure  ;  but  pre- 
ferred the  retired  and  rugged  fastnesses  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  for  the  exercise  of  his  zeal, 
and  other  eminent  virtues.  It  was  amid  those 
solitary  retreats,  surrounded  with  a  colony  of 
poor  settlers,  that  he  erected  a  church,  and  made 
the  "  desert  to  blossom  as  the  rose."  During 
forty-one  years,  he  devoted  his  fortune,  his  fine 
mind,  his  literary  and  theological  attainments,  to 
the  service  of  the  poor,  amid  the  wilds  of  Penn- 
sylvania. And  he  cherished  this  voluntary  ob- 
scurity beyond  the  glare  of  the  court,  and  the 
purple  of  the  church — either,  or  both  of  which  he 
might  have  enjoyed,  had  he  embraced  the  eccle- 


REV.    DEMETRIUS    A.    GALLITZIN.  143 

siastical  state  in  Europe,  or  chosen  for  his  abode 
the  metropolis,  where  pontiffs  love  to  cover  with 
merited  dignities  the  princes  of  the  earth,  who 
choose  "  the  Lord  as  their  portion  and  heritage." 

The  Rev.  DEMETRIUS  A.  GALLITZIN  was  the  son 
of  the  most  noble  prince  Gallitzin  ;  a  name  in 
which  Russia  prides  herself,  as  among  her  wisest 
and  most  renowned,  and  all  Europe  recognizes 
as  most  distinguished  and  illustrious.  Having 
filled  some  of  the  highest  offices  in  the  empire, 
the  prince  was  sent  to  represent  the  Czar,  as 
minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  court  of  Holland. 
It  was  whilst  in  the  discharge  of  this  high  func- 
tion, that  he  gave  birth,  at  the  Hague,  to  the 
subject  of  this  brief  memoir.  The  twenty-second 
of  December,  A.  D.  1770,  ushered  into  life  the 
young  Gallitzin,  the  flower  of  his  family, — the 
future  "  pastor  of  the  Alleghanies." 

His  boyhood  was  spent  in  acquiring  all  the 
accomplishments  proper  for  a  youth  of  his  noble 
condition:  and  possessing  great  talents  and  a 
natural  enthusiasm  of  character,  he  did  not  fail  to 
turn  to  the  best  advantage  the  opportunities 
which  he  enjoyed.  Having  arrived  at  his 
twenty-second  year,  adorned  with  an  elegant 
person  and  captivating  manners,  but  still  more 
with  an  ingenuous  and  inquiring  disposition,  he 
determined  to  travel,  in  order  to  prepare  himself 
still  more  thoroughly  for  the  elevated  station  for 
which  he  was  intended.  He  crossed  the  Atlantic, 


144  KEY.    DEMETRIUS    A.    GALLITZIN. 

with  the  view  of  observing  the  progress  of  civili- 
zation and  human  liberty  in  the  republic  of  the 
United  States. 

It  is  no  difficult  matter  to  imagine  with  what 
distinguished  and  cordial  welcome  the  hope  of 
the  princely  family  of  Gallitzin  was  received  on 
these  shores ;  and  with  what  exciting  emotions  his 
parents  looked  forward  to  the  realization  of  all 
their  designs  in  his  regard. 

But  Providence,  who  disposes  all  things 
"  strongly  and  sweetly,"  had  other  views  :  in  the 
midst  of  his  career,  when  courted  by  all  the 
world,  on  account  of  his  immense  fortune  and 
illustrious  birth,  the  convictions  of  religion  came 
upon  his  spirit  with  irresistible  energy.  He  had 
been  born  and  educated  in  the  Greek  church, 
which,  ever  since  the  seventh  century,  had  sepa- 
rated from  the  See  of  Rome,  and,  under  an 
(Ecumenical  patriarch  of  its  own  choice,  erected 
an  ecclesiastical  polity  independent  of  the  ancient 
Catholic  church.  The  great  controversy  which 
agitated  the  east  and  west  on  the  subject  of  the 
procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  and  the  violent  usurpation  of 
authority  grasped  by  the  Greek  patriarch  in 
opposition  to  the  rightful  supremacy  of  the 
Roman  pontiff,  are  familiar  to  every  reader  of 
ecclesiastical  history.  It  may  be,  however,  add- 
ed, that,  although  most  of  the  dogmata  of  the 
Greek  church  are  orthodox — although  the  mass, 


REV.    DEMETRIUS    A.    GALLITZIN.  145 

transubstantiation,  auricular  confession,  purgatory, 
&c.  are  strictly  believed  and  adhered  to,  by  its 
members,  still  no  schismatics  are  more  hostile  to 
the  western  or  Roman  Catholic  Church,  than  the 
Russians,  and  other  partisans  of  the  oriental  usur- 
pation. The  conduct  of  the  reigning  autocrat 
towards  his  Catholic  subjects,  as  well  in  Russia 
as  in  Poland,  sufficiently  attests  the  truth  of  this 
assertion.  Hence  it  is,  that  the  Russians  are 
taught,  from  their  cradle,  to  abhor  the  Roman 
supremacy — and  to  cleave  with  superstitious  and 
national  tenacity  to  their  own  oscumenical  pa- 
triarchate, as  the  source  of  all  orthodox  doctrine 
and  legitimate  discipline.  The  nobility  and 
gentry  are  nurtured,  with  peculiar  care,  in  all 
these  prejudices  and  hostile  feelings  against 
Rome.  The  reader  may,  therefore,  easily  con- 
ceive how  profound  must  have  been  the  investi- 
gations— how  sincere  the  convictions — how  great 
the  triumph  over  prejudice — of  young  Gallitzin, 
when,  amid  all  the  dissipating  scenes  into  which, 
as  a  gay  traveller,  he  was  thrown,  he  became  a  con- 
vert to  the  doctrines  and  supremacy  of  the  ROMAN 
church.  By  taking  this  step,  he  was  fully  aware 
that  he  was  blasting,  at  one  stroke,  all  his  future 
worldly  hopes — that  he  was  incurring  the  inex- 
orable displeasure  of  a  Father,  who  before  had 
doted  on  him,  and  was  closing  the  doors  of 
imperial  favor  against  himself  for  ever. 

But  his  generous  heart  had  resolved  to  make 
13 


146  REV.     DEMETRIUS    A.  GALLITZIN. 

the  sacrifice.  He  was  in  quest  of  truth :  and  once 
convinced  where  it  was  to  be  found,  he  made  up 
his  mind  to  obtain  it,  at  the  peril  of  all  things  else. 
This  was,  for  him,  that  "  precious  stone"  of  which 
the  Scripture  speaks  ;  to  purchase  which  he  was 
prepared  to  "sell  all  things  he  possessed."  He 
had  paused  from  the  hurry  of  his  travels,  to  search 
into  the  question  which  divided  the  Greek  from 
the  Roman  Church.  He  consulted  the  oracle  of 
the  American  Catholic  church — John  Carroll — at 
that  time  Bishop  of  Baltimore :  a  prelate,  whose 
memory  is  as  dear  to  our  country  as  it  is  sacred 
to  our  religion :  a  prelate,  whose  patriotism  and 
virtues  were  well  known  to  the  first  Congress 
which  deputed  him  on  a  most  important  mission 
to  Canada,  in  company  with  his  cousin  Carroll 
of  Carrollton,  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  Samuel 
Chase :  a  prelate,  who  combined  the  deepest  con- 
victions of  religion  with  the  blandest  manners  and 
most  tolerant  disposition.  It  was  this  immortal 
Bishop,  in  whom  Gallitzin  found  an  instructor — 
as  Augustine  found  in  Ambrose,  at  Milan — to 
whom  he  unbosomed  his  inmost  feelings — by 
whom  he  was  instructed — and  through  whom  he 
was  admitted  into  the  pale  of  the  Catholic  Com- 
munion. 

Having  taken  this  step,  he  now  formed  the  re- 
solution not  to  return  to  his  native  country,  but  to 
embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state,  and  spend  his 
life  in  spreading  through  the  New  World  the  doc- 


REV.    DEMETRIUS    A.  GALLITZIN.  147 

trines  which  he  believed  to  be  revealed  from  hea- 
ven. To  this  end,  he  withdrew  altogether  from 
society,  and  retired  into  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Baltimore,  in  order  to  prepare  himself  for  the 
work  of  the  holy  ministry.  His  course  in  that 
venerable  institution,  which  had  been  founded  by 
eminent  divines  exiled  from  France  by  the  hor- 
rors of  the  Revolution,  was  edifying  and  exem- 
plary ;  and,  on  the  festival  of  Saint  Joseph,  the 
19th  of  March,  anno  1795,  he  received  the  order 
of  priesthood  from  the  hands  of  Bishop  Carroll. 

Had  he,  then,  betaken  himself  to  the  "  Eternal 
City,"  it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  would,  in  a 
very  short  time,  have  been  invested  with  the 
highest  honors  of  the  church.  His  name,  his  for- 
tune, his  accomplishments,  his  piety,  would  have 
richly  entitled  him  to  them.  But,  instead  of  seek- 
ing for  such  distinctions,  he  courted  obscurity ; 
and,  under  the  anonyme,  as  it  may  be  termed,  of 
"  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,"  he  retired  into  the  interior 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  commenced  the  exercise 
of  the  ministry  on  one  of  the  farms  belonging  to 
Georgetown  College,  called  Conewago. 

But,  not  satisfied  with  bounding  his  labors  with- 
in the  district  of  that  mission,  he  extended  them 
into  the  bosom  of  the  Alleghanies  ;  in  which,  as 
if  to  bury  himself  still  more  deeply  in  solitude 
and  oblivion,  he,  at  length,  determined  to  fix  his 
residence.  There,  in  the  midst  of  a  few  poor 
families,  he  began  his  apostolic  labors  in  the  year 


148  REV.    DEMETRIUS    A.    GALLITZIN. 

1 795 ;  and  continued  in  that  wild  retreat,  round 
which,  however,  he  gradually  drew  large  congre- 
gations, until  the  period  of  his  death. 

They  only  who  have  witnessed  it,  can  form  an 
idea  of  his  boundless  charity.  Thousands  now 
live  to  proclaim  it,  and  bitterly  to  bewail  the  loss 
of  it,  by  his  departure  into  another  world.  His 
ample  fortune  was  spent  in  affording  them  tem- 
poral comfort,  while  his  life  was  exhausted  in 
conferring  on  them  spiritual  consolations. 

The  Reverend  Demetrius  Gallitzin  was  gifted 
with  rare  intellectual  endowments — and,  as  an 
author,  occupies  a  conspicuous  rank  among  the 
ecclesiastical  writers  of  America.  He  had  be- 
come a  perfect  master  of  the  English  language, 
which  he  spoke  and  wrote  almost  without  any 
foreign  idiom  or  accent.  His  "  defence  of  Cath- 
olic principles"  holds  a  place  among  the  standard 
polemical  works  of  our  country  :  and  the  number 
of  editions  through  which  it  has  gone,  both  here 
and  in  England,  vindicates  his  claim  to  the  posi- 
tion which  it  now  holds,  and  is  likely  to  hold 
among  future  generations.  His  manner  of  writ- 
ing is  vigorous  ;  and  a  spirit  of  candor  and  a 
tone  of  high  breeding  preside  over  his  most  ear- 
nest and  ardent  works  of  controversy.  He  is 
keen,  it  must  be  admitted  ; — but  he  cuts  with  a 
polished  razor :  and  when  he  meets  his  antago- 
nist on  the  theological  arena,  he  encounters  him 
according  to  the  tactics  of  honorable  warfare ; 


REV.    DEMETRIUS    A.  GALLITZIN.  149 

and  in  his  victory,  he  is  calm,  forbearing,  and 
just. 

Full  of  merits  and  good  works,  this  venerable 
priest  expired,  in  the  71st  year  of  his  age,  on  the 
6th  of  May,  1840.  In  his  demise,  the  church  has 
been  deprived  of  one  of  her  most  eminent  divines 
— the  sanctuary,  of  one  of  its  brightest  luminaries 
— the  community,  of  one  of  its  most  accomplished 
ornaments — the  poor,  of  their  best  benefactor — 
and  a  numerous  congregation,  of  their  devoted 
pastor  and  father. 

Multis  ille  quidem  flebilis  occidit  !* 

His  grave  is  made  in  the  solitude  where  his 
life  was  spent :  and  better  rest,  in  peace,  under 
the  green  turf  watered  by  the  tears  of  the  poor, 
than  lie  neglected  and  forgotten  beneath  the 
stately  mausoleums  of  the  great.  He  has  gone 
to  receive  the  reward  promised  to  the  good  and 
faithful  servant — and  his  memory,  as  "  Pastor  of 
the  Alleghanies,"  will  be  in  benediction  in  the 
annals  of  the  church. 


*  The  tears  of  many  will  bewail  his  loss. 


150 


WILLIAM   LEGGETT. 

BT    THEODORE   SKDGWICK. 

WILLIAM  LEGGETT  was  born  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  in  the  year  1802.  A  portion  of  his 
education  was  acquired  at  Georgetown  College, 
in  the  District  of  Columbia.  In  the  year  1819, 
he  accompanied  his  father's  family  to  the  State 
of  Illinois,  and  it  may  well  be  that  the  free  and 
unshackled  life  of  the  western  prairies  did  much 
towards  impressing  on  his  character  that  bold 
and  lofty  independence  which  so  much  distin- 
guished it.  In  1822  he  entered  the  navy  with 
the  rank  of  midshipman  ;  but  threw  up  his  com- 
mission in  1826,  owing  to  a  personal  difficulty 
with  his  commander,  which,  however,  attached 
no  blame  whatever  to  him.  His  first  literary 
efforts  resulted  from  this  last  step.  He  now 
published  his  "  Leisure  Hours  at  Sea"  and  several 
prose  sketches,  which  were  afterwards  collected 
under  the  title  of  "  Tales  by  a  Country  School- 
Master" 

In  1828  he  established  the  "  Critic,"  a  weekly 
periodical,  which  did  not,  however,  outlive  a  six- 
month's  existence ;  and  in  1829  attached  himself 
to  the  "  Evening  Post" 


WILLIAM    LEGGETT.  151 

In  June,  1833,  that  paper  became  the  lead- 
ing Administration  journal  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  when  Mr.  Bryant,  the  senior  editor, 
went  to  Europe  in  1834,  its  sole  management 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Leggett. 

It  was  from  tms  time  that  Mr.  Leggett's  repu- 
tation began  to  culminate.  He  brought  a  new 
spirit  to  the  important  task  in  which  he  was  en- 
gaged. While  he  remained  firmly,  nay,  devo- 
tedly, attached  to  the  democratic  party,  he 
pointed  out  and  denounced  with  unprecedented 
boldness  their  faults  and  errors,  and  rapidly 
acquired,  not  only  in  his  own  party,  but  through- 
out the  country,  an  elevated  and  commanding 
position. 

But  unhappily  for  himself,  more  so  still  for  the 
political  party  which  he  adorned,  and  most 
unfortunately  for  his  country,  this  career  was 
abruptly  terminated. 

In  1835  he  was  seized  by  a  violent  illness, 
which  reduced  him  to  the  borders  of  the  grave, 
and  for  a  year  he  was  incapable  of  any  continued 
exertion. 

In  December,  1836,  he  established  "  The 
Plain  Dealer"  a  paper  intended  to  support 
democratic  principles,  but  at  the  same  time  to 
examine  all  the  measures  of  the  government  with 
perfect  independence.  The  first  numbers  of  this 
journal  contain  some  of  his  boldest  and  most 
eloquent  productions,  but  the  hand  of  illness  was 


152  WILLIAM    LEGGETT. 

soon  again  laid  heavily  upon  him,  and  he  was, 
in  1837,  compelled  to  discontinue  the  "  Plain 
Dealer." 

In  November,  1838,  he  was  prominently  before 
the  nominating  committee  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Congressional  nomination,  but  failed,  owing  to 
the  anti-abolition  fanaticism  which  then  con- 
trolled the  leading  men  of  the  democratic  party 
in  New  York. 

This  was  his  last  public  effort :  he  retired  to 
New  Rochelle,  in  Westchester  county,  and  there, 
after  a  year  of  pain  and  suffering,  borne  with 
unflinching  courage,  died  on  the  29th  of  May, 
1839. 

These  are  the  prominent  facts  of  the  life  of 
WILLIAM  LEGGETT,  but  they  should  not  be  unac- 
companied by  a  few  at  least  of  the  comments 
which  they  naturally  suggest.  Lord  Brougham 
has  said  of  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  "  It  is  fit  that  no 
occasion  on  which  he  is  named  should  ever  be 
passed  over  without  an  attempt  to  record  the 
virtues  and  endowments  of  so  great  and  good  a 
man  for  the  instruction  of  after-ages." 

It  is  equally  fit,  that  no  occasion  on  which 
William  Leggett  is  named  should  be  passed 
over  without  an  attempt  to  record  the  example 
of  a  man  who  was  a  politician  without  selfish- 
ness,— a  partisan,  without  yielding  the  indepen- 
dence of  his  own  judgment, — whose  life  was  a 
lesson  of  courage,  honesty  and  truth. 


WILLIAM    LEGGETT.  153 

His  name  may  not  reach  after-ages,  but  those 
who  knew  him  will  ever  love  to  dwell  upon  his 
memory,  they  will  ever  acknowledge  the  im- 
pulse given  to  their  own  minds  by  his  active, 
intelligent  and  uncompromising  independence. 
They  will  ever  remember  him  as  one  who,  but 
for  untoward  circumstances,  an  unkind  fortune 
and  premature  death,  would  have  deeply  im- 
pressed his  name  on  his  age  and  country. 

I  may  be  allowed  to  close  this  most  imperfect 
sketch  of  this  able  and  intrepid  man  by  an  ex- 
tract from  the  Preface  to  the  edition  of  his  works, 
which  appeared  in  January  last. 

"  The  foundation  of  his  political  system  was  an 
intense  love  of  freedom.  This,  indeed,  was  the 
corner-stone  of  his  intellect  and  his  feelings.  He 
absolutely  adored  the  abstract  idea  of  liberty,  and 
he  would  tolerate  no  shackles  on  her  limbs.  Lib- 
erty in  faith — liberty  in  government — liberty  in 
trade — liberty  of  action  every  way, — these  were 
his  fundamental  tenets — these  the  source  alike  of 
his  excellencies  and  his  defects.  *  *  * 

"  His  great  desire  on  all  the  questions  which 
agitated  the  country  appeared  to  be  the  attain- 
ment and  establishment  of  truth.  The  vehemence 
of  his  temperament  and  the  force  of  his  original 
impressions  often  had  an  obscuring  tendency  upon 
his  mind.  But  against  these  he  was  forever 
striving.  No  one  familiar  with  him  but  must 
have  perceived  the  progress  his  mind  was  con- 


154  WILLIAM    LEGGETT. 

tinually  making,  and  the  manly  independence  with 
which,  when  once  convinced  of  an  error,  he  de- 
nounced and  cast  it  off.  Truth  was  his  first  love 
and  his  last — the  affection  of  his  life.  His  most 
favorite  work  was,  I  think,  Milton's  Areopagitica, 
and  the  magnificent  description  of  Truth  which 
it  contains  was  constantly  on  his  lips.  *  *  * 

"  The  death  of  Mr.  Leggett  is  deplored  with  a 
regret  that  arises  as  well  from  public  as  private 
considerations.  We  grieve  for  the  loss  of  an  ac- 
complished man  of  warm  attachments,  ardently 
devoted  to  his  friends,  and  ready  to  make  any 
sacrifice  for  them.  But,  if  possible,  we  still  more 
deeply  lament  the  death  of  an  eloquent  and  inde- 
pendent politician,  thoroughly  imbued  with  the 
cardinal  principles  of  liberty — of  one  with  no  su- 
perior, and  scarcely  a  rival  in  his  vocation,  who, 
whatever  his  faults,  had  merits  that  a  thousand- 
fold redeemed  them  ;  his  richly  stored  intellect — 
his  vigorous  eloquence — his  earnest  devotion  to 
truth — his  incapability  of  fear — his  superiority  to 
all  selfish  views, — are  forever  embalmed  in  our 
memory. 

"  Most  especially  do  his  friends  deplore  the  time 
and  circumstances  of  his  death.  Life  appeared 
to  be  opening  brightly,  and  the  clouds  which  had 
hung  around  him  seemed  on  the  point  of  dis- 
persing. 

"  Every  year  was  softening  his  prejudices  and 
calming  his  passions.  Every  year  was  enlarging 


WILLIAM    LEGGETT.  155 

his  charities  and  widening  the  bounds  of  his  lib- 
erality. Had  a  more  genial  clime  invigorated 
his  constitution,  and  enabled  him  to  return  to  his 
labors,  a  brilliant  and  honorable  future  might  have 
certainly  been  predicted  of  him.  He  would  not 
have  left  a  name  only  as  the  conductor  of  a  peri- 
odical press — he  would  not  merely  have  left 
these  transient  and  fleeting  memorials  of  his 
ability  and  rectitude.  It  is  not  the  suggestion  of 
a  too  fond  affection,  but  the  voice  of  a  calm  judg- 
ment, which  declares  that,  whatever  public  career 
he  had  pursued,  he  must  have  raised  to  his  memo- 
ry an  imperishable  monument,  and  that  as  no 
name  is  now  dearer  to  his  friends,  so  few  could 
then  have  been  more  honorably  associated  with 
the  history  of  his  country  than  that  of  WILLIAM 
LEGGETT." 


150 


SOLOMON    SOUTHWICK. 

BY    S.    3.    RANDALL. 

SOLOMON  SOUTHWICK  was  born  on  the  25th  of 
December,  1773,  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  His 
father  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  effective 
champions  of  that  gallant  struggle  for  the  rights 
of  the  colonists,  which  eventuated  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution.  For  several  years  prior  to  the 
commencement  of  hostilities,  he  was  the  editor 
of  the  Newport  Mercury  ;  a  journal  deeply  par- 
taking of  the  aroused  spirit  of  the  country,  and 
devoted  to  the  assertion  and  maintenance  of  those 
high  principles  which  the  men  of  that  day  regarded 
as  inseparably  identified  with  patriotism  and  public 
and  private  liberty.  His  well  known  sentiments 
and  effective  exertions  in  preparing  the  popular 
mind  for  independence,  rendered  him  peculiarly 
obnoxious  to  the  officers  and  agents  of  the  British 
government ;  and,  placed  under  the  vindictive  ban 
of  an  unscrupulous  and  irritated  tyranny,  he  be- 
came one  of  the  earliest  victims  of  power  and 
oppression.  From  a  condition  of  competency, 
and  even  of  affluence,  arising  from  his  connexion 
with  some  of  the  highest  and  wealthiest  families 
of  the  province,  and  from  his  own  industry  and 


SOLOMON  SOUTH  WICK.  157 

talents,  he  was  soon  reduced  to  utter  destitution ; 
hunted  down  by  the  myrmidons  of  despotism, 
driven  from  his  native  State  arid  compelled  to  seek 
a  precarious  shelter  wherever  it  might  be  found. 
His  wife  soon  fell  a  victim  to  anxiety,  care,  and 
physical  and  mental  sufferings ;  and  he  survived 
her  loss  but  a  short  period,  leaving  five  children 
dependent  upon  the  charity  of  the  world  for  the 
means  of  subsistence. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  commenced  his 
career,  at  twelve  years  of  age,  as  cook  to  a 
fishing  company  bound  for  Cape  Cod ;  whence, 
after  enduring  the  innumerable  hardships  and 
privations  incident  to  circumstances  so  unfavor- 
able, he  returned  to  Newport,  and  apprenticed 
himself  to  a  baker.  He  afterwards  abandoned 
this  employment,  and  went  on  board  a  coasting 
vessel  as  a  common  sailor,  where  he  remained 
sufficiently  long  to  experience  the  usual  variety 
of  "  hair-breadth  'scapes  and  imminent  perils" — 
to  contract  the  worst  acquaintances — and  im- 
pregnate his  ardent  and  susceptible,  but  immature 
mind,  with  those  sentiments  of  infidelity  and  athe- 
ism which  had  already  plentifully  emanated  from 
the  fertile  laboratory  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. 

At    the    age    of   eighteen,    he    was    induced 
to  give  up  this  roving  and  unsettled   life ;   and 
soon  after  obtained  a  situation  as  a  printer's  boy, 
14 


158  SOLOMON    SOUTHWICK. 

in  an  establishment  in  New  York,  in  which, 
among  others,  the  celebrated  Charles  Holt  and 
Matthew  L.  Davis  were  employed.  Thence, 
at  the  solicitation  of  his  brother-in-law,  John 
Barber,  then  printer  to  the  State,  he  proceeded 
to  Albany,  and  first  as  a  journeyman,  and 
subsequently  as  partner,  in  the  establishment  of 
the  "  Albany  Register,"  then  the  organ  of  the 
democratic  party,  laid  the  foundations  for  his 
subsequent  busy  and  prosperous  career  as  a 
politician. 

On  the  death  of  Mr.  Barber,  in  1808,  he  suc- 
ceeded to  his  interest  in  the  Register,  and  was 
soon  after  appointed  printer  to  the  State.  In 
this  capacity  his  talents,  intrepidity,  and  enthusi- 
astic energy  of  character,  soon  placed  him  at  the 
head  of  his  party,  and  enabled  him  for  a  long 
time  to  exercise  an  almost  unlimited  influence 
upon  the  political  destinies  of  the  State.  He 
met,  however,  with  a  vigorous  and  powerful 
opposition,  particularly  in  the  city  of  Albany, 
then  the  stronghold  of  federalism,  where  he  was 
obliged,  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  to  stem 
the  torrent  of  a  formidable  and  exasperated  ma- 
jority. To  so  high  and  unwonted  a  pitch  was 
the  popular  feeling  enlisted  against  him,  that,  on 
one  occasion,  his  dwelling  was  surrounded  at 
midnight  by  an  infuriated  mob,  bent  upon  per- 
sonal violence,  while  an  only  and  beloved 
daughter  lay  dead  at  the  time  in  the  house. 


SOLOMON    SOUTHWICK.  159 

Few  men  have  occupied  a  larger  space  in  the 
«arly  political  history  of  our  State ;  few  have 
participated  more  extensively,  and  for  a  longer 
period  of  time,  in  the  public  confidence  and 
regard ;  and  few  have  experienced  more  striking 
vicissitudes  of  fortune  in  the  great  arena  of  parti- 
zan  warfare.  But  while  a  recapitulation  of  the 
exciting  incidents  which  marked  his  political 
career  could  not  fail  to  prove  acceptable,  as  well 
from  their  important  connexion  with  the  history 
of  the  times,  as  from  their  intrinsic  interest,  the 
limits  to  which  we  are  restricted  necessarily 
compel  us  to  hurry  over  this  portion  of  his  busy 
and  eventful  life.  We  cannot  even  stop  to 
sketch  the  meagre  outline  of  those  stirring  events 
in  which  he  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part ;  events 
which,  in  their  immediate  consequences,  as  well 
as  ultimate  results,  exercised  so  important  an 
influence  upon  the  administration  of  our  political 
affairs.  Abundant  materials  are  afforded  in  a 
review  of  his  biography,  for  a  graphic  and  inter- 
esting history  of  a  period  fertile  in  incident, 
distinguished  for  the  display  of  talent,  and  marked 
by  the  agitation  of  questions  which  have  exerted 
a  powerful  influence  upon  the  condition  of 
society,  and  the  success  of  our  republican  insti- 
tutions. We  are  induced  to  hope  that  some  one 
more  intimately  conversant  with  this  important 
era,  and  more  familiar  with  its  peculiar  spirit, 
will  yet  be  -found  to  illustrate,  by  the  aid  of  these 


160-  SOLOMON    SOUTHWICK. 

materials,  a  department  of  our  civil  and  political 
history  hitherto  overlooked  or  but  imperfectly 
appreciated. 

Of  the  causes  immediate  or  remote,  personal 
or  political,  which  led  to  the  final  overthrow  of 
Mr.  Southwick's  influence  as  the  great  and 
acknowledged  leader  of  a  triumphant  party,  and 
which  brought  in  their  train  the  loss  of  that 
immense  fortune  which,  during  a  period  of  nearly 
thirty  years,  he  had  toiled  most  industriously  and 
faithfully  to  acquire,  we  have  neither  time  nor 
room  here  to  speak.  His  enemies — and  a  man 
of  his  peculiar  cast  of  character,  basking  for  so 
long  a  period  in  the  full  and  uninterrupted  sun- 
shine of  personal  and  political  prosperity,  and 
wielding  so  potent  an  influence  as  that  which 
moulds  public  opinion  to  its  measures  and  its 
will,  could  not  choose  but  surround  himself  with 
strong  and  powerful  enemies — have  arraigned 
him  upon  weighty  and  serious  charges ;  many, 
and  indeed  most  of  which,  have  been  thoroughly 
investigated,  and  a  verdict  of  substantial  acquittal 
awarded. 

In  investigations  of  this  nature,  great  allow- 
ance is  undoubtedly  to  be  made  for  peculiarity 
of  position, — collocation  of  circumstances, — the 
prevalent  code  of  political  morality, — the  con- 
tagious influence  of  example, — the  tempting 
prize  at  stake, — the  excited  condition  of  the 


SOLOMON    SOUTHWICK.  161 

public  mind,  and  particularly  that  of  the  principal 
combatants  in  the  anomalous  field  of  political 
warfare  then  opened, — and  most  of  all,  the  ardent, 
ill  regulated,  rash,  headstrong,  and  mercurial 
temperament  of  the  individual  thus  called  upon 
to  reconcile,  with  the  cool  and  dispassionate 
dictates  of  sound  judgment  and  strict  morality, 
all  the  varied  impulses  by  which  his  conduct 
was  governed.  The  compulsory  retirement  of 
such  a  man  from  the  familiar  arena  of  political 
strife,  with  a  ruined  fortune  and  blasted  expecta- 
tions, especially  when  we  make  due  allowance 
for  the  splendid  qualities  which  eminently  fitted 
him  to  adorn  the  highest  public  station,  was 
surely  a  retribution  sufficiently  severe. 

In  1816  Mr.  South  wick  was  appointed  post- 
master in  the  city  of  Albany,  the  duties  of  which 
station  he  continued  to  discharge  until  near  the 
close  of  Mr.  Monroe's  administration,  when  he 
was  displaced  in  favor  of  General  Solomon  Van 
Rensselaer.  For  several  years  he  had  acted  as 
a  regent  of  the  University,  under  an  appoint- 
ment from  the  Legislature,  and  also  as  one  ot 
the  managers  of  the  State  Literature  Lottery, 
under  the  same  authority.  While  holding  the 
office  of  State  printer,  and  actively  engaged  in 
his  editorial  duties,  he  nevertheless  found  time 
to  complete  a  thorough  and  regular  course  of 
legal  studies;  and,  in  1813,  was  admitted  as  an 
14* 


162  SOLOMON    SOUTH  WICK. 

attorney,  and  subsequently  as  a  counsellor,  of  the 
Supreme  Court. 

About  the  year  1819,  he  established  in  the 
city  of  Albany,  a  weekly  paper,  under  the  title 
of  the  "  Plough-Boy,"  principally  devoted,  as  its 
name  imports,  to  agricultural  topics.  He  con- 
tinued the  publication  of  this  paper  some  two  or 
three  years,  when  he  again  embarked  in  the 
political  contests  of  the  day,  and  assumed  the 
editorial  charge  of  the  "  National  Democrat,"  in 
the  same  city,  which  he  continued  for  about 
three  years,  during  which  time  he  took  the  field 
as  the  self-nominated  candidate  for  Governor 
against  Mr.  Yates,  and  obtained  a  very  respect- 
able support. 

When  the  vicissitudes  of  political  fortune  ter- 
minated his  influence  as  a  party  leader,  and  with 
it  the  fairest  prospects  of  worldly  comfort  and 
affluence,  it  abated  in  no  respect  the  zeal  and 
spirit  with  which  he  had,  from  the  first,  been 
accustomed  to  regard  those  great  principles  of 
government  and  policy  upon  which  his  political 
faith  was  founded.  No  longer,  however,  acting 
under  the  complicated  responsibility  of  a  party 
leader,  and  free  to  carry  out,  unembarrassed  by 
counteracting  influences,  the  suggestions  of  his 
own  clear  and  vigorous  mind,  in  that  field  of 
political  action  which  appeared  to  him  the  most 
important,  he  embarked  all  his  energies  in  that 
famous  crusade  against  the  institution  of  Ma- 


SOLOMON    SOUTHWICK.  163 

sonry,  which  from  1827  to  1830  convulsed  a 
great  portion  of  the  State,  and  produced  for  the 
time  being  a  new  and  peculiar  organization  of 
political  interests. 

To  this  subject,  on  its  first  agitation,  Mr. 
Southwick,  impelled  alike  by  the  ardor  of  his 
character,  and  the  convictions  of  his  sober  judg- 
ment, devoted  the  concentrated  energies  of  his 
powerful  mind.  He  conducted  a  paper  in  the 
city  of  Albany,  under  the  title  of  the  "  National 
Observer,"  devoted  to  the  examination  and  dis- 
cussion of  the  various  questions  arising  out  of 
the  anti-Masonic  excitement ;  and  subsequently, 
he  was  placed  in  nomination  by  the  anti-Masonic 
party,  on  its  first  political  organization,  as  a 
candidate  for  the  office  of  governor.  The  de- 
cline of  his  fortunes,  however,  political  and 
pecuniary,  prevented  his  continuance  as  the  lead- 
ing editor  of  the  party  to  which  he  had  attached 
himself,  and  he  was  compelled,  in  justice  to 
himself  and  his  family,  to  retire  from  the  noisy 
and  vexatious  clamor  of  politics  to  the  privacy 
of  the  domestic  circle.  His  long  connexion 
with  the  party  interests  of  the  day  had  termi- 
nated :  and  the  remainder  of  his  life  was  devoted 
to  study,  to  contemplation,  to  the  welcome,  and 
to  him  ever  precious,  enjoyments  of  a  happy 
home,  and  to  the  dissemination  of  religious, 
moral  and  intellectual  truth.  The  morning  of 
his  life  was  overshadowed  with  heavy  and 


104  SOLOMON    SOUTH  WICK. 

threatening  clouds  ;  his  noon-day  sun  shone  with 
a  brilliant,  perhaps  a  too  brilliant  and  hurtful 
splendor ;  but  his  evening  declination  was  the 
steady,  tempered  reflection  of  a  mellowed  and 
softened  light. 

It  is  to  this  period  that  we  must  chiefly  refer 
his  exertions  in  the  great  field  of  religious,  moral 
and  intellectual  improvement,  to  which  we  are 
indebted  for  the  most  conclusive  proofs  of  the 
vigor,  depth  and  compass  of  his  mind,  as  well  as 
of  the  comprehensive  benevolence  and  general 
philanthropy  for  which  he  was  distinguished. 
We  have  seen  that  at  an  early  period  of  his  life, 
and  when  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  of  im- 
morality and  vice,  he  was  led  to  abandon  the 
belief  in  Christianity,  which  had  been  instilled 
into  his  infant  mind  by  the  counsels  of  parental 
and  maternal  love,  and  to  commit  himself 
without  a  rudder  or  a  compass  to  the  stormy 
ocean  of  infidelity.  His  subsequent  efforts,  how- 
ever, to  disseminate  the  truth,  beauty  and  sub- 
limity of  the  Bible,  in  an  admirable  course  of 
lectures  devoted  to  that  subject,  and  delivered 
during  the  years  1831  to  1837,  in  most  of  the 
principal  towns  and  cities  of  the  State,  attest  the 
soundness  and  the  force  of  those  religious  con- 
victions which  had  finally  fastened  themselves 
upon  his  mind ;  and  his  connexion  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  took  place 
in  1831,  as  well  as  the  uniform  morality,  purity 


SOLOMON    SOUTH  WICK.  165 

and  simplicity  of  his  life,  bear  the  strongest 
witness  to  their  practical  effect.  His  "lectures 
on  the  Bible"  were  accompanied  by,  and  alter- 
nated with,  occasional  addresses  on  the  subject 
of  the  Temperance  Reform,  then  in  its  infancy  : 
and  it  is  but  simple  justice  to  say,  that  his  exer- 
tions in  this  important  field  of  labor  contributed 
materially  to  the  progress  and  success  of  the 
cause  to  which  they  were  devoted.  He  also 
published  about  this  period  his  "  Letters  of  a 
Layman,"  under  the  signature  of  "  Sherlock," 
addressed  to  Thomas  Herttell,  Esq.  of  New 
York,  chiefly  on  the  subject  of  that  philosophical 
infidelity  of  which  Mr.  Herttell  was  known  to  be 
an  able  and  distinguished  champion. 

In  the  year  1819,  Mr.  South  wick  established 
and  conducted  for  a  considerable  length  of  time 
a  religious  periodical,  published  in  the  city  of 
Albany,  entitled  the  "  Christian  Visitant,"  princi- 
pally devoted  to  an  examination  of  the  prevalent 
systems  of  Jacobinical  infidelity  which  had,  as 
before  remarked,  been  transplanted  in  this  country 
by  the  terrible  whirlwind  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion ;  and  which  had  taken  deep  root,  particularly 
in  the  large  cities  and  more  populous  places  of 
our  country. 

But  the  crowning  excellence  of  his  labors,  in  a 
literary  and  moral  view,  is  his  early,  unremitted 
and  assiduous  devotion  to  the  great  cause  of 
EDUCATION.  Himself,  emphatically,  a  self-made 


166  SOLOMON    SOUTH  WICK. 

man — owing  all  of  knowledge,  of  mental  and 
moral  culture,  of  success  in  life,  of  honor, 
fame,  distinction  and  usefulness,  to  his  own 
exertions  and  perseverance — it  was  the  pre- 
dominant desire — the  master-passion,  if  we  may 
so  speak,  of  his  mind,  to  communicate  to  others, 
particularly  to  the  laboring  classes,  to  the  indi- 
gent, the  obscure  and  the  friendless — and  gene- 
rally to  young  men  in  every  condition  of  life, 
that  knowledge  of  their  powers  and  faculties 
which  should  render  them  independent  alike  of 
extraneous  circumstances  and  adventitious  aid,  in 
the  development  of  their  minds.  His  address 
at  the  opening  of  the  Albany  Apprentices'  Li- 
brary— an  institution  to  the  establishment  of 
which  his  exertions  materially  contributed — is  an 
earnest,  impassioned  and  eloquent  appeal  upon 
this  great  subject,  and  secured  for  him  the  most 
gratifying  tributes  of  applause  and  admiration 
from  the  ablest  statesmen  and  most  distinguished 
philanthropists  at  home  and  abroad.  Wilberforce 
commended  it  as  one  of  the  highest  efforts  of 
comprehensive  benevolence.  Jefferson,  Adams, 
and  Monroe,  addressed  to  him  and  others,  letters 
expressive  of  their  exalted  admiration  of  his  cha- 
racter and  his  efforts  in  the  cause  of  Education. 
This  address  was,  indeed,  a  masterly  production 
—overflowing  with  an  energy,  a  pathos  and  an 
eloquence,  which  only  such  a  subject,  in  the  hands 
of  such  a  man,  could  elicit.  His  exertions  in  aid 


SOLOMON  SOUTH  WICK.  167 

of  indigent  and  deserving  young  men,  particu- 
larly mechanics,  struggling  under  the  pressure  of 
outward  circumstances,  were  -not  confined  to  the 
closet  or  to  the  public  lecture-room.  While  his 
fortune  afforded  the  means,  he  constantly  sought 
out  those  to  whom  he  might  beneficially  extend 
the  hand  of  assistance  ;  and  he  neglected  no  op- 
portunity of  advancing  and  encouraging  the  in- 
dustrious and  the  deserviag,  by  substantial  testi- 
monials of  the  interest  which  he  felt  in  their  wel- 
fare. While  holding  the  station  of  president  of 
the  Mechanics'  and  Farmers'  Bank  in  the  city  of 
Albany,  he,  in  several  instances,  and  wholly  with- 
out solicitation  from  those  interested,  endorsed 
notes  presented  for  discount  by  such  individuals, 
which  had  been  refused  by  the  Directors  as  inse- 
cure ;  and  on  such  occasions,  his  timely  inter- 
ference was  discovered  only  when  the  notes 
were  taken  up  by  those  who  had  originally  pre- 
sented them. 

Mr.  South  wick's  "  Lectures  on  Self-Education," 
delivered  co-temperaneously  with  those  on  the 
Bible,  and  subsequently  repeated  about  a  year 
previous  to  his  death,  before  the  Young  Men's 
Association  for  Mutual  Improvement  in  the  city 
of  Albany,  created  a  general  interest,  and  secured 
for  him,  wherever  the  course  was  announced,  the 
most  intelligent  and  respectable  audiences.  These 
lectures  were  eminently  worthy  of  the  ample 
genius  and  diversified  experience  of  their  author. 


168  SOLOMON    SOUTH  WICK. 

To  the  young,  they  are  particularly  invaluable — 
comprising,  as  they  do,  a  masterly  exposition  of 
the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  intellec-  • 
tual  and  moral  training  and  discipline  depend. 
This  great  work  was  succeeded  by  "  Five  Letters 
to  Young  Men,  by  an  Old  Man  of  Sixty,"  designed 
to  warn  the  young  against  the  theatre,  the  gam- 
ing-house, the  circus,  and  other  seductive  allure- 
ments and  immoralities  peculiarly  incident  to 
cities.  In  all  his  various  lectures,  addresses  and 
orations,  before  literary  and  other  societies,  at 
public  meetings  and  on  anniversary  occasions,  he 
seems  to  have  kept  this  great  purpose  steadily  in 
view ;  and  he  neglected  no  opportunity  which 
presented  itself,  to  communicate  the  rich  results 
of  his  own  experience,  varied  and  extensive  read- 
ing, and  comprehensive  and  judicious  observa- 
tion, with  reference  to  the  cultivation  and  de- 
velopment of  the  mind.  A  few  months  previous 
to  his  death,  he  had  projected  the  establishment 
of  a  Literary  and  Scientific  Institute,  in  the  city  of 
Albany,  under  his  control  and  supervision,  for  the 
express  purpose  of  affording  the  requisite  facilities 
to  young  men  desirous  of  pursuing  a  course  of 
self-education  upon  his  plan ;  and  had  offered  to 
indicate  to  those  at  a  distance,  who  might  wish  to 
avail  themselves  of  his  course,  without  actual  at- 
tendance upon  the  contemplated  Institute,  a  sy- 
nopsis of  its  arrangement  and  method. 

For    two    years    immediately    preceding    his 


SOLOMON  SOUTH  WICK.  169 

death,  he  conducted  the  "Family  Newspaper," 
published  by  his  son,  in  the  city  of  Albany — a 
weekly  journal,  devoted  to  literary  and  miscella- 
neous subjects.  A  great  variety  of  manuscript 
productions  upon  several  topics  of  general  and 
local  interest,  theological,  political,  literary,  moral, 
and  miscellaneous,  many  of  which  it  was  his  in- 
tention to  revise  and  prepare  for  the  press  at  a 
future  period,  were  left  by  him  in  an  unfinished 
state,  when  he  was  suddenly,  and  without  any 
previous  warning,  arrested  by  the  hand  of  death, 
in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  and  the  full  ma- 
turity of  his  intellectual  powers.  Returning,  in 
company  with  his  wife,  from  an  evening  visit,  he 
was  suddenly  attacked  by  an  affection  of  the 
heart,  which  in  about  fifteen  minutes  terminated 
fatally.  His  age  was  sixty-six. 

The  chief  elements  which  entered  into  the 
composition  of  Mr.  Southwick's  character  were 
noble  and  intrinsically  great.  Reared  in  the 
school  of  adversity — struggling  with,  and  sur- 
mounting, the  most  formidable  obstacles  to  ad- 
vancement and  success  in  life, — working  out  the 
materials  for  usefulness,  honor  and  fame,  by  his 
own  unaided  and  unassisted  exertions,  and  finally 
triumphing  by  the  mere  force  and  energy  of  his 
character,  over  all  that  impeded  his  progress, — 
obtaining,  too,  that  most  difficult  of  all  victories, 
the  final  and  complete  subjugation  of  the  selfish 
15 


170 


SOLOMON    SOUTHWICK. 


propensities  to  the  higher  and  nobler  intellectual 
and  moral  nature, — this  example  cannot  fail  to 
prove  eminently  beneficial,  in  the  present  period 
of  aroused  and  earnest  conflict,  for  the  ascen- 
dency of  truth,  and  the  purification  of  humanity. 


171 


HENRY  J.   FINN. 

BY    EPES    SARGENT. 

AMONG  the  victims  of  the  tragic  catastrophe 
which  befell  the  Lexington,  no  one  has  been  more 
generally  lamented  than  the  excellent  comic 
actor,  HENRY  J.  FINN.  Of  his  life  the  present 
writer  has  few  particulars  in  his  possession  ;  and 
he  enters  upon  the  task  of  furnishing  a  brief  bi- 
ographical sketch,  more  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
pressing a  wish  that  others,  with  better  means  for 
doing  justice  to  the  memory  of  Finn,  and  with 
more  copious  materials  for  his  history,  would 
give  to  the  public  a  fitting  memoir,  than  with  any 
hope  of  supplying  the  desideratum  himself.  The 
life  of  the  actor  is  generally  full  of  incident  and 
variety ;  and  could  Finn  have  lived  to  have  writ- 
ten his  own  reminiscences,  we  believe  we  should 
have  had  one  of  the  most  interesting  autobiogra- 
phical works  connected  with  the  stage. 

We  have  heard  from  Mr.  Finn's  own  lips  that 
he  was  a  native  of  the  city  of  New  York  ;  and 
from  the  report  of  others,  we  learn.that  he  was 
born  in  the  year  1782,  of  respectable  parents. 
At  an  early  age  he  was  sent  to  the  academy  at 
Hackensack,  then  in  high  repute,  under  Mr. 


172  HENRY    J.    FINN. 

Traphagen.  He  afterwards,  while  yet  a  boy, 
sailed  for  England,  having  been  sent  for  by  an 
uncle,  who  was  in  affluent  circumstances.  He 
was  accompanied  on  the  voyage  by  his  mother. 
The  vessel,  in  which  they  embarked,  foundered  at 
sea,  and  the  crew  and  passengers  took  to  the 
boats  and  were  for  many  days  driven  about,  the 
sport  of  the  winds  and  waves.  They  were  at 
length  picked  up  by  a  ship  bound  for  Holland, 
and  landed  at  Falmouth.  Even  thus  early  in  life 
did  Finn  experience  a  foretaste  of  the  awful  fate 
that  was  to  terminate  his  career. 

He  arrived  in  London.  The  novelties  and  al- 
lurements of  the  great  metropolis  led  him  to  dis- 
regard the  austere  injunctions  of  his  uncle,  and 
the  old  gentleman  finally  died  without  bequeathing 
to  him  a  penny.  The  mother  had  left  this  life 
some  time  before ;  and  Finn  re-embarked  for 
America,  and  arrived  in  the  city  of  New  York  in 
the  spring  of  1799.  Here  he  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law  in  the  office  of  Thomas  Phrenix, 
the  late  district  attorney  of  the  city.  He  did 
not,  however,  find  the  profession  a  congenial  one, 
and  after  spending  two  years  over  Blackstone  and 
Coke,  he  abandoned  it  forever.  Soon  afterwards 
he  revisited  London,  turned  his  attention  to  the 
stage,  and  appeared  in  subordinate  characters  at 
the  Haymarket  Theatre.  He  soon  rose  to  be  a 
favorite. 

A  late  number  of  the  London  New  Monthly 


HENRY    J.    FINN.  173 

Magazine,  conducted  by  Theodore  Hook,  says,  in 
in  a  notice  of  a  piece  called  "  The  Sleep-Walker," 
that  "  owing  to  the  excellent  acting  of  Mr.  Jones 
and  Mr.  Finn  in  the  little  part  of  Thomas,  it  was 
the  most  successful  piece  of  the  season  ;"  so  that 
even  in  his  first  attempt,  and  in  a  trifling  charac- 
ter, he  gave  promise  of  reaching  the  reputation  he 
has  since  acquired.  In  1811  he  returned  to 
America,  and  made  his  first  public  appearance  at 
Montreal,  where  he  gave  an  entertainment  con- 
sisting of  recitations,  songs,  &c.  in  which  he  was 
very  successful.  His  next  appearance  was  in 
New  York,  where  he  was  received  with  marks  of 
distinguished  favor.  Subsequently  he  became  a 
member  of  the  company  of  the  Federal-street 
Theatre,  Boston,  where  he  continued  for  a  number 
of  years,  and  established  a  reputation  as  an  actor, 
and  a  character  as  a  man,  which  will  be  ever 
dear  in  the  memory  of  the  citizens.  He  first  took 
to  the  tragic  line  in  Boston — appearing  as  Othello 
to  Cooper's  lago — but  he  soon  became  convinced 
that  he  had  mistaken  his  forte,  and  though  his 
tragedy  might  be  good,  his  comedy  was  far  supe- 
rior. So  he  gave  up  Gloster,  Shylock,  and  Mac- 
duff,  for  Paul  Pry,  Mawworm,  and  Dr.  Ollapod. 

Long  after  he  had  become  a  confirmed  favorite 
as  a  comedian,  we  remember  seeing  him  play 
Shylock.  But,  although  a  stranger  would  have 
said  he  played  the  part  more  than  respectably, 
yet  the  humorous  associations  connected  with  the 
15* 


174  HENRY    J.    FINN. 

intonations  of  his  voice  and  the  lines  of  his  coun- 
tenance, produced  a  ludicrous  effect  upon  those 
who  had  been  familiar  with  his  rich  comic  per- 
sonations, and  converted  his  tragedy  to  farce. 
We  remembered  "  Billy  Black,"  and  when  we 
saw  him  as  the  "  inexorable  Jew,"  sharpening  his 
knife  upon  his  shoe,  we  were  disposed  to  call  upon 
him  for  a  conundrum. 

Mr.  Finn  was  at  one  time  manager  of  the 
Federal-street  Theatre,  in  Boston,  and  visited 
England  once  or  twice  for  the  purpose  of  select- 
ing recruits.  He  brought  over  to  this  country 
some  of  the  best  stock  actors  now  upon  our 
stage.  In  1828  he  married  the  daughter  of  Mr. 
Powell,  former  manager  of  the  Federal-street 
Theatre,  and  by  her  he  had  five  children. 
Having  accumulated  a  handsome  property  by 
his  professional  industry,  he  purchased  a  beauti- 
ful cottage  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  where  he  spent  a 
portion  of  the  warm  months,  and  recruited  after 
his  winter  campaigns  in  Boston,  New  York, 
and,  of  latter  years,  in  New  Orleans  and  the 
southern  cities,  where  he  became  an  immense 
favorite. 

During  the  mania  for  speculation  in  1835-6, 
Finn  became  "  inoculated"  with  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  lost  a  considerable  portion  of  his 
property  by  meddling  with  "  fancy  stocks."  He 
•was  not,  however,  disheartened  by  his  reverses. 
He  applied  himself  with  assiduity  to  his  profes- 


HENRY    J.    FINN.  175 

sion,  and  was  fast  retrieving  his  losses.  He  had 
just  finished  a  successful  engagement  at  the 
Chesnut-street  Theatre  in  Philadelphia,  and  was 
returning  to  his  happy  and  hospitable  homestead 
at  Newport.  He  took  passage  from  New  York 
on  the  13th  of  January,  1840,  on  board  the  Lex- 
ington,— since  the  destruction  of  which,  by  fire, 
with  the  precious  cargo  of  human  lives  committed 
to  it,  nothing  has  been  discovered  in  regard  to  the 
subject  of  our  memoir.  He  undoubtedly  per- 
ished with  the  greater  portion  of  the  ill-fated 
company,  in  the  midst  of  horrors,  which  the 
imagination  shrinks  from  contemplating  : 

"  Et  nunc,  sub  undis  oceani, 

Procul  ab  amicis, 
Immatura  morte  quiescit !" 

As  an  actor,  Finn  was  gifted  with  true  genius. 
*  His  comic  powers  were  indeed  extraordinary. 
The  spontaneous  flashes  of  wit  and  merriment, 
which  sparkled  through  all  his  personations,  gave 
to  them  a  peculiar  zest.  In  Boston  he  was  for 
many  years  the  paramount  favorite  with  the 
theatre-going  public.  His  benefits  were  always 
handsomely  attended  ;  and  he  had  a  peculiar 
faculty  of  attracting  public  attention  by  the  in- 
genuity of  his  "  cards"  and  announcements, 
which  were  usually  made  up  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary and  inconceivable  puns,  for  which  his 
own  name  furnished  prolific  materials.  His 


176  HENRY    J.    FINN. 

representations  of  Beau  Shatterly,  Philip  Garbois, 
Sir  Peter  Teazle,  Bob  Logic,  Paul  Shack,  Mon- 
sieur Jacques,  and  other  parts  of  peculiar  humor, 
will  long  live  in  the  memories  of  thousands. 

Finn's  versatility  was  as  extraordinary  off  the 
stage  as  on.  He  could  paint  miniatures  very 
neatly,  as  also  landscapes  and  portraits  in  oil. 
His  comic  songs  are  among  the  most  ingenious 
in  the  language.  He  was  the  author  of  a  drama 
called  "  Montgomery,  or  the  Falls  of  Montmo- 
renci,"  which  was  acted  in  Boston  with  con- 
siderable success,  and  afterwards  published.  He 
also  left  behind  him  a  manuscript  tragedy,  some 
specimens  of  which  were  published  in  the  New 
York  Mirror  for  1839.  He  was  the  author  of 
several  comic  annuals  and  almanacs,  and  of 
many  prose  contributions,  which  show  that  he 
was  the  master  of  a  pure  and  correct  English 
style. 

The  following  little  poem,  though  inferior  to 
many  of  the  lyrical  pieces  of  Finn,  is  interesting 
when  read  in  connexion  with  the  remembrance 
of  his  own  melancholy  end.  The  coincidence  is 
not  a  little  remarkable. 


THE    FUNERAL   AT    SEA. 


DEEP  mists  hung  over  the  mariner's  grave 
When  the  holy  funeral  rite  was  read  ; 

And  every  breath  on  the  dark  blue  wave 
Seemed  hushed,  to  hallow  the  friendless  dead. 


HENRY    J.    FINN.  177 

And  heavily  heaved  on  the  gloomy  sea, 

The  ship  that  sheltered  that  homeless  one — 

As  though  his  funeral-hour  should  be 

When  the  waves  were  still  and  the  winds  were  gone. 

And  there  he  lay,  in  his  coarse,  cold  shroud — 
And  strangers  were  round  the  coffinless  : 

Not  a  kinsman  was  seen  among  that  crowd, 
Not  an  eye  to  weep,  nor  a  lip  to  bless. 

No  sound  from  the  church's  passing  bell 

Was  echoed  along  the  pathless  deep, 
The  hearts  that  were  far  away  to  tell 

Where  the  mariner  lies,  in  his  lasting  sleep. 

Not  a  whisper  then  lingered  upon  the  air — 

O'er  his  body,  one  moment,  his  messmates  bent ; 

But  the  plunging  sound  of  the  dead  was  there — 
And  the  ocean  is  now  his  monument ! 

But  many  a  sigh,  and  many  a  tear, 

Shall  be  breathed,  and  shed,  in  the  hours  to  come- 
When  the  widow  and  fatherless  shall  hear 

How  he  died,  far,  far  from  his  happy  home  ! 

A  writer  in  the  Boston  Morning  Post  says: 
"  We  find  it  impossible  to  realize  the  melancholy 
fact  in  its  full  extent,  that  FINN  is  NO  MORE.  The 
poet,  wit,  actor,  painter,  and  author — the  only 
legitimate  representative  of  so  many  of  the  rich- 
est characters  of  the  drama — the  finished  artist — 
at  home  in  every  department  of  his  profession — 
of  humor  inexhaustible — of  versatility  unbounded 
— well  may  the  children  of  the  stage  lament  the 


178  HENRY    J.    FINN. 

loss  of  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments.  It  will  be 
long  ere  we  shall  look  upon  his  like  again. 

"  But  it  is  not  only  as  a  professional  man  that 
we  deplore  his  premature  decease.  As  a  per- 
sonal friend  with  whom  we  have  pleasantly 
travelled  a  long  way  over  the  road  of  existence, 
we  repine  at  his  sudden  exit.  He  is  associated 
with  the  recollections  of  many  scenes  of  hilarity 
and  social  enjoyment,  which  now  come  thronging 
back  to  our  memory  with  painful  distinctness. 
As  a  member  of  society,  he  was  faultless  in  the 
performance  of  all  the  duties  which  pertain  to 
that  character.  In  all  the  tender  relations  of 
consanguinity,  his  bearing  was  exemplary. 

"  In  his  private  intercourse,  Finn  was  grave, 
unobtrusive,  and  reserved.  With  an  exterior  of 
great  comic  humor,  his  thoughts  and  conversation 
were  naturally  of  a  serious  cast.  He  possessed 
not  that  flow  of  animal  spirits  which  many  would 
suppose  from  the  richness  of  his  stage  delineations. 
But  he  was  always  cheerful  and  kind  in  his  bear- 
ing, courteous  and  respectful  to  all,  assuming 
nothing  and  yielding  every  thing ;  more  prone  to 
be  a  listener  than  a  talker,  and  taking  more  plea- 
sure in  seeing  others  shine  than  in  attempting  to 
shine  himself.  He  was  domestic  in  all  his  habits 
and  feelings. 

"  Finn  was  eminently  a  favorite  with  the  press. 
Originally  attached  to  it  as  the  editor  of  a  news- 
paper, it  has  constantly  been  his  gratification,  to 


HENRY    J.    FINN.  179 

employ  moments  snatched  from  the  toil  of  his 
profession,  to  enliven  the  spirit  of  the  public 
prints.  There  was  nothing  harsh  or  vindictive 
in  his  disposition  or  his  writings.  His  jokes, 
though  always  pointed,  had  no  power  to  wound, 
and  we  doubt  if  he  ever  hurt  the  feelings  of  a 
human  being.  The  elements  were  kindly  mixed 
up  in  him,  and  no  provocation  could  arouse  him 
to  bitter  resentment.  Neither  the  taunts  of  pro- 
fessional jealousy,  nor  the  injustice  of  heedless 
criticism,  could  disturb  the  equanimity  of  his 
temper.  As  a  writer  of  humorous  songs,  Finn 
possessed  talents  as  happy  as  they  were  rare. 
Our  readers  may  recall  several  of  them — his 
Fireman's  song — his  song  at  the  Tariff  dinner — 
at  School  dinners — at  Horticultural  celebrations 
— and,  more  recently,  at  the  Mechanics'  festival. 
"  As  a  genteel  comedian,  he  was  also  held  in  the 
highest  estimation,  and  had  he  reserved  himself 
for  what  is  technically  called  the  upper  walks  of 
the  profession,  he  would  have  continued  a  dra- 
matic star  of  no  ordinary  magnitude.  But  when, 
in  England,  the  sun  of  tragedy  set  with  the  ex- 
tinction of  Kean,  and  the  eccentric  orb  of  Liston 
arose  on  the  theatrical  horizon,  Finn's  versatility 
enabled  him  to  conform  to  the  change  in  the  pub- 
lic taste,  and  to  take  possession  of,  and  hold  on 
this  continent  without  a  rival,  a  line  of  character 
of  which  Liston  was  the  original  and  end  in  the 
mother  country.  All  these  rich  and  humorous 


180  HENRY    J.    FINN. 

personifications  of  character  are  now  lost  to  the 
stage :  Beau  Shatterly,  Bobby  Buckhorse,  Bobby 
Trott,  Dr.  Logic,  Billy  Black,  Mons.  Jacques, 
Old  Garbois,  Paul  Pry,  and  a  host  of  others, 
peculiarly  his  own,  and  in  which  no  other  person 
can  be  tolerated  while  memory  holds  her  seat. 
All  these  old  and  valuable  stage  acquaintances 
sunk  beneath  the  wave  with  him,  and  were  swal- 
lowed up  forever.  But  why  dwell  on  the  cata- 
logue of  lost  treasures,  and  torture  the  heart  with 
unavailing  regrets  ! 

"  Burke  said  of  Garrick,  that  *  his  death  eclipsed 
the  gaiety  of  nations.'  But  probably  the  an- 
nouncement of  his  decease  did  not  bring  a  pang 
to  more  bosoms  than  will  be  touched  by  the 
mournful  relation  of  the  fate  of  FINN." 


181 


REV.   ELIHU  W.   BALDWIN,  D.  D. 

BY    JOSEPH   H.   MYERS. 

IN  essaying  a  sketch  of  this  eminent  and  good 
man,  we  treat  of  one  greatly  beloved  by  many 
hundreds  in  this  city,  with  whom  he  was  long 
associated  as  a  Christian  teacher  and  pastor. 

But  our  object  is  not  so  much  to  detail  the 
events  of  his  life,  in  so  far  as  it  was  passed  in  the 
ordinary  labors  of  the  ministry, — for  this  has 
already  been  competently  done  by  several  of  his 
brethren,* — as  to  record  briefly  that  peculiar  ser- 
vice which  he  performed,  while  as  a  pioneer,  in 
the  remote  West,  and,  at  an  earlier  period,  in  the 
eastern  suburbs  of  our  city,  he  prepared  the  way, 
and  aided  to  introduce  and  extend  the  benefits  of 
knowledge  and  the  blessings  of  the  Christian 
faith.  The  character  of  Dr.  BALDWIN  it  is  well 
to  know  in  these  aspects  of  it,  for  he  is  to  be 
numbered  with  those  who  have  done  a  good 
work  in  forming  communities,  and  building  up 
their  great  institutions. 

The  Reverend  Elihu  W.  Baldwin,  D.  D.,  late 
President  of  Wabash  College,  was  born  at  Dur- 

*  To  these  articles  we  are  greatly  indebted  for  the  mate- 
rials of  this  sketch. 

16 


182  REV.    ELIHU    W.    BALDWIN,    D.  D. 

ham,  Greene  county,  New  York,  December  25th, 
1789.  He  was  the  son  of  Deacon  Jonathan 
Baldwin,  formerly  of  Connecticut,  and  now  re- 
siding at  Atwater,  Ohio.  To  the  pious  faithful- 
ness of  his  parents,  who  trained  up  their  children 
according  to  the  principles  of  the  Bible,  and  to 
God's  blessing  upon  that  early  parental  instruc- 
tion, Dr.  Baldwin  attributed  his  religious  char- 
acter. 

In  his  eighteenth  year  he  entered  Yale  College, 
in  the  autumn  of  1807.  His  youth  had  been 
passed  at  his  paternal  home,  where  he  pursued 
his  preparatory  studies  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Rev.  Jesse  Townsend,  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Durham. 

While  in  college  he  was  admitted  to  much  in- 
timacy with  its  venerable  president,  Dr.  Dwight, 
whose  confidence  he  so  far  acquired  as  to  be 
chosen  to  act  as  tutor  to  one  of  his  sons.  This 
period  of  intercourse  with  Dr.  Dwight  was  ever 
regarded  by  the  subject  of  this  notice  as  one  of 
the  bright  spots  of  his  life.  In  after-years  he 
looked  on  this  eminent  person  as  his  model,  and 
ever  spoke  of  him  in  terms  of  the  highest  rev- 
erence. 

Together  with  more  than  twenty  of  his  fellow- 
students,  he  connected  himself  with  the  church 
of  Yale  College  in  1808,  for  then,  first,  he  deemed 
himself  a  Christian,  having  received  the  faith  of 


REV.    ELIHU    W.    BALDWIN,    D.  D.  183 

the  Gospel  in  the  spring  of  that  year.  From  a 
child,  however,  spiritual  realities  had  exercised 
power  over  him,  but  now,  for  the  first  time,  he 
dedicates  himself  to  God,  "  with  awe,"  to  use 
his  own  language,  "  with  awe  of  the  presence  of 
an  all-seeing  God.  I  resolved  to  live  to  him  from 
this  time  forever." 

He  was  graduated  in  1812.  His  residence  at 
college  had  been  protracted  to  five  years,  he 
having  found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  increase 
his  pecuniary  resources,  to  teach  for  one  year, 
while  pursuing  his  collegiate  studies  ;  and  after 
leaving  the  institution,  the  two  succeeding  years 
were  also  employed  in  teaching. 

At  the  academy  in  Fairfield,  Connecticut,  of 
which  at  this  time  he  was  principal,  he  was 
every  way  successful,  and  throughout  life  he  was 
a  very  able  instructor  of  youth. 

In  November,  1814,  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover ;  among 
the  kindred  spirits  with  whom  he  there  asso- 
ciated, was  the  lamented  missionary  Parsons,  to 
whom  he  became  strongly  attached. 

September  10th,  1817,  he  was  ordained  to 
the  gospel  ministry,  and  repaired  to  New  York 
with  the  determination  of  going  as  a  missionary 
to  the  western  territory,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Young  Men's  Society  of  this  city.  At  their 
unanimous  request  he  consented  to  forego  the 
execution  of  this  plan,  in  favor  of  a  district  within 


184  REV.    ELIHU    W.    BALDWIN,    D.  D. 

the  limits  of  the  city.  The  position  which  he 
might  occupy,  or  the  place  where  he  should 
labor,  was  probably,  in  his  view,  of  little  moment- 
He  had  just  before  written  in  his  diary,  "  I  now 
clearly  perceive  that  the  favor  of  God  is  enough 
for  me.  Let  me  have  his  presence  and  behold 
his  glory,  and  I  desire  no  more." 

We  here  approach  that  part  of  his  life  when 
his  peculiar  work  began.  To  him  was  now 
assigned  the  task  of  winning  a  rude  people  to 
orderly  and  upright  practices,  and  to  the  exer- 
cise of  Christian  meekness  and  love,  and  of 
establishing  among  them  those  institutions  which 
tend  to  secure  culture  of  mind  and  rectitude  of 
heart.  Under  the  direction  of  the  Society,  he 
commenced  his  labors  on  the  East  river,  near 
Corlaer's  Hook.  "The  field  was  most  forbid- 
ding. It  was  in  the  suburbs,  separated  by  a 
wide  waste,  unsafe  by  night  to  the  traveller,  from 
the  city  proper.  A  few  only  of  the  streets  were 
regulated.  Rugged  hills,  partially  undermined, 
and  humble  detached  dwellings,  presented  an 
unsightly  appearance.  The  people  were  not 
less  rugged.  The  neighborhood  was  known 
as  a  place  of  infamous  resort  by  day  and  by 
night." 

Here  he  visited  and  preached  from  house  to 
house.  He  began  his  public  ministry,  November 
22d,  1817.  An  upper  room  of  a  private  dwelling, 
occupied  as  a  school- room,  served  him  and  his  little 


REV.    ELIHU    W.    BALDWIN,    D.  D.  185 

company  as  a  place  of  worship.  At  first  no  more 
than  fifteen  persons  assembled.  By  the  accession 
of  others,  he  was  soon  encouraged  to  proceed  to 
the  establishment  of  a  church,  and  on  the  24th 
of  March  of  the  following  spring,  the  seventh 
Presbyterian  church  of  New  York  was  organized 
at  a  private  room  in  Grand  street.  It  consisted 
then  of  only  20  members.  They  were  all  poor, 
and  earned  their  daily  bread  by  their  daily  labor. 
At  the  date  of  this  writing,  less  than  twenty-three 
years  from  the  establishment  of  that  church  un- 
der Dr.  Baldwin,  it  has  received  more  than  nine- 
teen hundred  members,  and  sent  forth  two  nume- 
rous colonies,  over  which  are  placed  faithful 
pastors. 

We  need  not  trace  minutely  the  progress  of 
this  body  in  numbers,  wealth,  character,  and  in- 
fluence. Our  concern  is  rather  with  their  lead- 
er, whose  efforts  were  zealous  and  persevering, 
and  his  labors  as  a  pastor  always  abundant. 

Nor  were  his  studies  neglected.  The  reputa- 
tion for  scholarship  which  he  had  won  and  sus- 
tained at  college  and  at  Andover,  was  preserved 
in  spite  of  his  missionary  toils,  and  throughout 
life. 

During  his  connexion  with  this  society,  which 
continued  for  eighteen  years,  and  was  terminated 
only  by  his  removal  to  the  west,  he  maintained 
that  unwearied  assiduity  and  self-denial  which 
characterised  his  labors.  Three  times,  chiefly 
16* 


186  REV.    ELIHU    VV.    BALDWIN,    D.  D. 

through  his  exertions,  was  a  house  of  worship 
erected ;  the  first  one  occupied  by  them  having 
been  sold  in  order  to  free  the  society  from  debt, 
and  their  beautiful  house,  built  in  1826,  was  burnt 
down  early  in  1831.  In  November  of  that  year 
they  were  enabled,  with  the  aid  of  friends,  to  com- 
plete another  edifice ;  and  here,  during  this  and  the 
succeeding  year,  large  numbers  were  added  to 
the  church,  which,  soon  after,  was  composed  of 
six  hundred  persons ;  and  in  its  Sunday  Schools 
one  thousand  children  received  instruction. 

It  may  be  well  to  note  the  fact,  that  for  a  con- 
siderable period — about  nine  years, — Dr.  Baldwin 
had  received  only  five  hundred  dollars,  annually. 
This  was  while  acting  as  a  missionary :  for  the 
six  years  next  succeeding,  his  annual  stipend  did 
not  exceed  eight  hundred  :  this  was  increased  to 
twelve  hundred  dollars  for  each  of  the  three 
years  that  followed.  "  Very  often  were  he  and 
his  family  driven  to  great  straits,  and  at  times 
such  was  their  destitution  that  they  scarcely 
knew  where  or  how  to  obtain  their  daily  bread. 
But  they  trusted  not  in  vain  to  Him  whom  they 
served.  The  early  history  of  no  church  in  this 
city,  it  is  thought,  presents  such  a  continued  suc- 
cession of  trials."  Notwithstanding  these  embar- 
rassments and  trials,  hitherto  he  had  steadily  re- 
fused to  go  elsewhere,  preferring  his  own  people, 
endeared  to  him  by  mutual  services,  and  by  com- 
mon joys  and  sorrows,  to  the  important  and  de- 


REV.    ELIHU    W.    BALDWIN,    D.  D.  187 

sirable  stations  which  he  was  solicited  to  occupy. 
But  early  in  1835,  he  was  invited  to  repair  to 
that  region  which  he  had  himself  first  chosen  as 
the  field  of  his  early  labors,  and  there  to  under- 
take the  presidency  of  Wabash  College. 

To  the  urgent  request  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
supported,  after  mature  consideration,  by  his 
brethren  and  friends,  and  enforced  by  his  own 
convictions  of  duty,  he  could  not  refuse  to  accede, 
and  in  the  autumn  of  1835,  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  and,  assuming 
the  responsibilities  of  his  office,  entered  with  vigor 
upon  the  discharge  of  its  duties. 

Before  quitting  New  York,  he  had  made  suc- 
cessful efforts  to  enlarge  the  pecuniary  resources 
of  the  College,  and  thus  to  increase  its  means  of 
usefulness ;  and  to  accomplish  this,  his  energies 
were  employed  during  the  remaining  five  years 
of  his  life. 

The  College  edifice,  the  erection  of  which  he 
had  undertaken  and  effected,  having  been  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  1838,  he  lived  to  see  it  rebuilt 
in  an  improved  manner.  This  was  the  fifth 
public  building  erected  mainly  through  his  exer- 
tions. But  the  time  was  at  length  come  when 
his  benevolent  efforts  were  to  cease. 

He  died  on  the  15th  of  October,  of  the  present 
year,  after  a  painful  illness,  in  the  51st  year  of  his 
age.  He  departed  in  the  midst  of  his  labors, 
removed  by  a  disease  brought  upon  him  during 


188  REV.    ELIHU    W.    BALDWIN,    D.  D. 

a  three  weeks'  tour  made  in  behalf  of  the  Col- 
lege. 

In  an  interval  of  ease,  just  before  his  dissolu- 
tion, he  sent  an  affectionate  message  to  the 
students,  conveying  the  tenderness  of  the  pa- 
rental friend,  and  the  yearning  love  of  the 
Christian  teacher,  importing  his  heart's  desire, 
and  prayer  to  God  for  them  that  they  might  be 
saved.  Respecting  himself  he  used  this  lan- 
guage. "  I  want  peace,  great  peace.  I  am 
unworthy  of  it.  I  am  a  poor  sinner.  I  am 
willing  to  be  humbled  before  the  universe  ;  but 
my  trust  is  in  the  merits  of  Christ." 

He  who  uttered  tais  on  his  death-bed,  had 
long  brought  his  passions  into  complete  sub- 
jection, so  that  no  angry  or  harsh  expression 
ever  escaped  him.  The  purpose  to  effect  this 
he  had  formed  in  his  eighteenth  year,  and  had 
inserted  the  resolution  in  his  diary.  Moreover, 
good  will  and  good  deeds  dwelt  in  his  heart  and 
adorned  his  life.  His  was  a  far-reaching  be- 
nevolence, which  in  its  wide  expansion  would 
embrace  all  men  ;  in  this  spirit,  he  labored  stren- 
uously to  advance  their  well-being. 

Such  lowliness  of  mind  as  is  breathed  in  the 
expressions  we  have  recorded,  could  result,  then, 
only  from  a  comparison  of  himself  with  infinite 
purity  and  holiness.  From  this  were  derived 
his  power  and  steadiness  in  action  ;  in  the  depths 


EEV.    ELIHU    W.    BALDWIN,    D.  D.  189 

of  self-abasement  before  God,  springs  up  the 
energy  to  do  good  to  men. 

From  different  sources  we  learn  the  high 
consideration  he  had  gained  at  the  West ;  we 
need  not  speak  of  the  affection  and  reverence 
which  were  borne  him  by  numbers  here.  He 
was  loved  as  a  father  by  a  numerous  people,  and 
to  them  and  his  many  friends,  his  annual  visits 
to  the  city  afforded  the  highest  gratification. 
Some  among  us  yet  look  on  his  features  pre- 
served by  the  limner's  art ;  his  virtues  are  en- 
graven on  many  hearts. 

During  the  five  years  of  his  presidency,  his  in- 
fluence had  spread  far  in  the  State  which  he  had 
chosen  for  his  home  ;  he  had  become  well  known 
to  the  people,  and  from  them  his  memory  will  not 
pass  away. 

His  voice  had  been  heard  throughout  the  Wa- 
bash  valley,  and  in  the  councils  of  that  common- 
wealth, when  he  pleaded  the  cause  of  education 
and  sought  legislative  aid  in  behalf  of  the  institu- 
tion which  he  represented.  To  that  institution 
he  was  a  most  faithful  friend — as  the  constituted 
guardian  of  its  interests,  he  strove  assiduously  to 
advance  them  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  students  found  in  him  a  mild  but  firm  coun- 
sellor and  director,  a  ready  and  most  communi- 
cative teacher.  He  secured  the  attention  of  his 
pupils  by  a  happy  facility  of  illustration,  and  by 
his  power  of  appeal  to  the  understanding,  im- 


190  REV.    ELIHU    W.    BALDWIN,    D.  D. 

pressed  and  fastened  his  instructions  on  their 
minds. 

But  as  with  him  the  spiritual  and  eternal  had 
long  held  the  pre-eminence  over  all  things  tangi- 
ble and  transitory,  so  he  sought  with  special  ear- 
nestness and  diligence  to  win  them  and  others  to 
the  love  of  all  excellence  and  goodness,  as  mani- 
fested in  his  Divine  Lord,  and  to  the  practice  of 
his  holy  precepts. 

In  conversation,  as  well  as  in  public  discourse, 
such  themes  were  dearest  to  him. 

May  his  life  of  laborious  diligence,  and  high 
achievement,  find  many  imitators,  so  that  not  only 
humanizing  arts,  but  all  ennobling  virtues,  may 
flourish  and  adorn  our  land. 


191 


NICHOLAS  CUSICK. 

THIS  distinguished  Indian  chief  was  born  at  the 
Oneida  Reservation,  in  the  western  part  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  on  the  15th  of  June,  1756. 
At  an  early  age  he  was  kept  at  school  for  several 
years  by  Sir  William  Johnson  ;  and  he  then  re- 
turned to  his  own  people,  and  remained  among 
them  until  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution- 
ary war.  At  this  time  the  British  Government 
were  very  desirous  to  secure  his  services  in  be- 
half of  the  crown ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  indig- 
nantly refused  a  commission  in  the  army,  proffer- 
ed to  him,  with  a  large  salary,  through  a  distin- 
guished officer  in  the  British  service.  Soon  after  this 
occurrence,  at  a  council  held  by  the  agents  of  the 
Provincial  Government,  with  the  friendly  Oneida 
Indians,  he  offered  himself  as  a  volunteer,  and  as 
such  enlisted  in  the  army  under  General  Wash- 
ington. With  the  warriors  whom  he  brought 
with  him  into  this  alliance,  and  by  his  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  English  and  Indian  languages, 
he  rendered  essential  service  to  the  cause  in  which 
he  had  enlisted.  He  soon  received  a  lieutenant's 
commission  and  continued  in  the  service  for  about 
five  years  ;  and  on  many  occasions  he  appears  to 


192  NICHOLAS    CUSICK. 

have  given  great  aid  to  the  Americans.  At  one 
time,  in  particular,  he  is  said  to  have  saved  the 
division  under  Lafayette  from  an  almost  certain 
destruction. 

Upon  his  leaving  the  service  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  a  pension  was  settled  upon  him,  which  he 
continued  to  receive  until  his  death.  Soon  after 
the  restoration  of  peace,  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Six  Nations,  first  chief  of  the  Tuscaroras,  and 
was  ever  regarded  as  faithful  in  his  endeavors 
for  the  good  of  his  people  and  of  the  United 
States.  He  also  sustained  an  important  part  in 
the  late  war  with  England. 

Cusick  is  described  by  many  who  knew  him 
intimately,  as  having  been  in  many  respects  a  re- 
markable man.  In  whatever  situation  he  was 
placed, -it  required  but  a  glance  to  discover  that 
his  was  a  master-spirit.  He  was  fond,  in  his  lat- 
ter days,  of  relating  to  those  who  felt  an  interest 
in  them,  the  stirring  scenes  in  which  he  had  been 
engaged :  and  at  such  times  it  was  highly  inter- 
esting to  watch  the  changes  in  his  features 
as  the  visions  of  the  past  flitted  before  him. 
For  some  fifty  years  before  his  death,  he  had 
professed  the  Christian  faith,  and  was  subsequent- 
ly appointed  an  interpreter  among  the  Indians  by 
the  Missionary  Society  then  existing.  He  resign- 
ed the  office  about  ten  years  since,  and  died  at 
Tuscarora  Village,  October  29th,  1840,  aged  82 
years. 


193 


REV.  JOHNT.  KIRKLAND,D.D.,LL.a 

THE  great  Hooker  beautifully  remarks  that  '  the 
life  of  a  pious  clergyman  is  visible  rhetoric ;'  and 
to  few  in  any  country  is  the  maxim  more  pecu- 
liarly applicable,  than  to  the  individual  just  named 
as  the  subject  of  a  brief  sketch.  His  father  was 
one  of  those  self-denying  Christians,  worthy  to  be 
the  successors  of  the  glorious  band  of  martyrs 
whose  blood  has  sealed  their  faith,  who  devote 
their  lives  to  the  service  of  truth  in  the  lands  of 
heathendom.  His  son  was  born  on  the  17th  of 
August,  1770,  at  Little  Falls,  on  the  Mohawk,  in 
New  York,  and  received  the  rudiments  of  an 
English  education,  under  the  disadvantages  inci- 
dent to  his  situation  in  a  town  comparatively  new, 
in  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts,  whither  his  parents 
had  removed  in  1772.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he 
was  placed  by  his  father  at  an  academy  in  Ando- 
ver,  where,  by  the  generous  assistance  of  the 
Hon.  Samuel  Phillips,  a  gentleman  of  eminent 
legal  abilities,  and  afterwards  lieutenant  gover- 
nor of  the  State,  he  was  enabled  to  prepare  for 
admission  to  Harvard  college,  where  he  was  gra- 
duated with  distinguished  honors  at  the  age  of 
nineteen. 

17 


194         REV.  JOHN  THORNTON  K1RKLAND,  LL.  D. 

After  four  years  divided  between  teaching  and 
the  study  of  divinity,  on  the  5th  of  February, 
1794,  he  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Sumner  street,  Boston.  In  delivering  to  him  his 
solemn  charge,  his  father,  venerable  for  his  years 
and  the  purity  of  his  character,  said  to  him  with 
a  kind  of  prophetic  vision,  "  You  are  a  son  of 
prayers  and  of  vows.  May  God  Almighty  bless 
you ;  and  may  you  increase  whilst  I  decrease, 
and  shine  many  years  as  a  bright  star  in  the  Re- 
deemer's hand,  when  I,  your  natural  father,  am 
set,  and  seen  no  more."  This  solemn  prayer  of 
his  time-honored  parent  was  fully  answered,  in 
the  unusual  popularity  which  the  preaching  of  his 
son  immediately  commanded,  and  ultimately  in 
the  extended  reputation  which  he  acquired  as  a 
stern  moralist  and  the  greatest  ethical  preacher 
of  his  age.  His  sermons  were  characterized  by 
great  depth  of  thought, — by  the  broad  and  all-em- 
bracing philosophy,  as  well  as  charity,  which 
shone  through  them, — by  the  energy  and  richness 
of  their  language, — and  above  all,  by  that  profound, 
intimate  and  soul-searching  knowledge  of  man — 
of  the  tortuous  mazes  of  the  human  heart  and  the 
hidden  motives  which  control  human  action — 
which,  more  than  any  other  man,  he  had  at  abso- 
lute command. 

In  1810  he  was  elected  to  the  presidency  of 
Harvard  college,  which  was  rendered  vacant  by 
the  death  of  Dr.  Webber.  With  great  reluctance 


REV.    JOHN    THORNTON    KIRKLAND,  LL.  D.         195 

he  accepted  the  appointment,  and  the  period  of 
his  continuance  in  office  has  been  designated  as 
the  Augustan  age  of  Harvard  university.  Under 
his  direction,  and  mainly  by  his  efforts,  the  course 
of  studies  was  enlarged  and  the  standard  of 
scholarship  raised,  the  law  school  was  established, 
the  medical  school  re-organized,  and  a  body  of 
professors  and  tutors  collected  together,  unrivalled 
in  talents,  in  acquirements,  and  in  high  literary  en- 
thusiasm— a  constellation  of  learning  such  as  the 
university  has  witnessed  neither  before  nor  since 
his  time.  The  names  of  Frisbie,  Farrar,  Norton, 
Everett,  Ticknor,  Popkin,  Bigelow,  Sparks,  Ban- 
croft, Cogswell  and  Follen,  who  were  all  his  co- 
adjutors, are  alone  sufficient  to  establish  this  fact. 
His  intercourse  with  the  students,  too,  marked  as 
it  was  by  that  kindness  and  urbanity  which  form- 
ed so  prominent  a  part  of  his  character,  and  uni- 
formly characterized  by  a  courtly  and  dignified 
address,  tempered  with  the  utmost  ease  and  an 
affectionate  solicitude  for  their  welfare,  inspired 
them  at  once  with  confidence  for  their  head,  and 
an  earnest  ambition  to  excel  in  the  arts  and  graces 
of  which  he  was  so  eminent  a  master.  After 
presiding  for  eighteen  years  with  dignity  and  the 
most  distinguished  success  over  the  highest  litera- 
ry institution  of  his  country,  he  was  forced,  by  a 
severe  attack  of  the  paralysis,  to  leave  it.  He 
resigned  in  March,  1828,  and  spent  several  years 
in  travelling — for  a  portion  of  that  time  through 


196          REV.    JOHN    THORNTON    KIRKLAND,  LL.  D. 

the  western  and  southern  portions  of  the  United 
States,  but  principally  in  Europe  and  the  west- 
ern cities  of  Asia.  He  returned  to  this  country 
in  1832,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life,  cloud- 
ed as  it  was  by  feeble  health,  in  Boston,  where  he 
died  on  the  28th  of  April,  1840.  His  death  called 
forth  many  excellent  funeral  discourses,  the  best 
of  which  are  those  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Parkman, 
Young  and  Palfrey. 


197 


WILLIAM  MACLURE. 

OF  the  early  life  of  this  distinguished  naturalist 
and  munificent  patron  of  the  scientific  associations 
in  this  country,  we  have  but  meagre  information. 
We  only  know,  generally,  that  for  some  years  he 
devoted  himself  to  mercantile  pursuits,  in  which 
he  amassed  a  handsome  fortune :  but  having 
formed  an  acquaintance,  which  resulted  in  a  close 
and  long-continued  intimacy,  with  SAY,  one  of  the 
first  naturalists  this  country  has  produced,  he 
subsequently  gave  his  time  and  much  of  his  for- 
tune to  the  promotion  of  those  objects  in  which 
his  whole  energies  were  thus  enlisted. 

The  study  of  Natural  History  in  its  various 
branches,  notwithstanding  the  great  inducements 
to  its  pursuit  presented  by  the  peculiar  character 
of  our  country,  and  the  splendid  advantages 
which  would  accrue  to  every  department  of  en- 
terprise from  its  successful  cultivation,  has  never 
received  that  attention  in  the  United  States  to 
which  its  high  importance  and  ennobling  charac- 
ter so  eminently  entitle  it.  Within  a  few  years, 
however,  it  has  awakened  the  interest  and  excited 
the  efforts  of  many  of  our  most  ingenious  and 
philosophical  minds.  This  may  be  attributed,  in 
17* 


198  WILLIAM    MACLURE. 

no  small  degree,  to  the  exertions  and  influence  of 
the  '  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadel- 
phia';  an  institution  formed  in  1812  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  this  department  of  scientific  inquiry, 
and  which  owes  its  present  high  character  and 
influence,  as  well  as  its  prospects  of  future  useful- 
ness, in  a  great  measure  to  the  zealous  co-opera- 
tion of  Mr.  MACLUHE  in  the  earlier  stages  of  its 
existence.  The  enterprise  was  then  new,  and, 
although  useful,  exceedingly  difficult.  In  1816, 
when  the  institution  was  struggling  for  its  very 
being,  Mr.  Maclure  attached  himself  to  it  and 
identified  himself  with  its  welfare,  with  a  zeal  and 
liberality  which  have  few  examples  on  record. 
He  visited  Europe  and  traversed  the  entire  conti- 
nent, making  the  most  valuable  collections  of 
books  and  specimens,  and  taking  advantage  of 
every  thing  which  could  advance  the  interests  of 
his  favorite  pursuit  and  his  adopted  institution. 
The  academy  now  possesses  the  largest  and  most 
valuable  library  on  the  continent,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  natural  history  ;  and  in  their  published 
" Notice,"  they  declare  themselves  "indebted  to 
Mr.  Maclure  for  seven-tenths  of  all  the  books 
contained  in  it." 

In  1825,  this  devotee  to  the  interests  of  learning 
projected  a  scheme  of  education,  embracing  in  its 
details  all  that  is  valuable  in  literature,  science 
and  art.  For  the  purpose  of  carrying  his  designs 
into  more  complete  execution,  he  removed  to 


WILLIAM    MACLURE.  199 

New  Harmony,  in  Indiana,  where  he  concentrated 
his  library,  his  splendid  collections  in  natural  his- 
tory, and  whatever  else  could  best  promote  his 
cherished  object.* 

The  failure  of  his  health  made  it  necessary  for 
him  to  remove  to  a  milder  climate  :  and  he  ac- 
cordingly went  to  Mexico,  where  he  died,  at  the 
village  of  San  Angel,  on  the  22d  of  March,  1840, 
in  the  75th  year  of  his  age.  The  only  works 
from  his  pen,  of  which  we  are  aware,  are  a  vol- 
ume entitled  "  Opinions  on  Various  Subjects  dedi- 
cated to  the  Industrious  Producers,"  and  another 
embracing  many  valuable  facts  relating  to  the 
Geology  of  the  United  States.  The  former  con- 
sists mainly  of  articles  primarily  written  while  in 
Paris  for  the  Revue  Encyclopedique,  which  were 
however  excluded  by  the  censors  of  the  press, 
and  afterwards  published  in  Spanish  at  Madrid. 

*  It  should  here  be  mentioned,  that  Mr.  Maclure's 
object  was  entirely  unconnected  with,  and  different  from, 
the  eccentric  scheme  of  Mr.  Robert  Owen,  of  which  the 
same  place  was  the  theatre.  A  contrary  impression  would 
he  obtained  from  an  article  in  the  Lond.  Athenaeum,  Au- 
gust 22d;  1840. 


200 


REV.  WILLIAM  STONE. 

AMONG  the  clergymen  who  have  deceased  during 
the  eventful  year  1840,  was  the  late  Rev.  WIL- 
LIAM STONE — father  of  the  writer  of  this  brief 
tribute  to  his  memory.  He  died  at  Sodus,  in  the 
county  of  Wayne,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1840, 
aged  83  years. 

Mr.  Stone  was  born  in  the  town  of  Guilford, 
New  Haven  county,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut. 
His  ancestors  were  of  the  sturdy  band  of  pil- 
grims, who  planted  that  town  in  the  year  1639. 
His  mother  was  a  Leete — the  grand-daughter  of 
"  Captain  Andrew  Leete,"  as  he  is  called  by  Cot- 
ton Mather,  although  he  was  also  a  judge  of  the 
Superior  Court,  and  sat  upon  the  trial  of  Mercy 
Disbrough  and  Goodwife  Clawson,  for  witchcraft, 
in  Fairfield  county,  in  1692.  Captain  Andrew 
Leete  was  the  son  of  Governor  William  Leete, 
the  founder  of  the  Guilford  Plantation,  as  it  was 
termed,  and  for  several  years  governor  of  the 
colony  of  Connecticut,  and  afterward  of  the  col- 
onies of  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  united. 

The  life  of  Mr.  Stone,  until  within  the  last 
twenty  years,  was  one  of  great  vicissitude  and 
activity.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution, 


REV.   WILLIAM    STONE.  201 

as  well  as  of  the  church  militant.  In  the  earlier 
part  of  the  war,  he  left  his  books — all  that  he 
could  not  carry  in  his  knapsack — and  went  into 
the  army  as  a  common  soldier,  to  relieve  a  broth- 
er who  was  in  ill  health.  That  brother  died  : 
but  patriotism,  in  those  days,  was  something 
more  than  a  name,  and  a  love  of  country  induced 
the  deceased  to  enlist  for  an  additional  term  of 
three  years,  during  which  he  saw  much  service. 
In  the  course  of  the  war  he  was  at  the  battles  of 
White  Plains,  Germantown,  and  Monmouth,  be- 
sides other  affairs.  At  Germantown  he  stood 
near  Gen.  Nash  when  that  fire-eater  fell.  He 
was  at  the  execution  of  Andre,  and  did  not  quit 
the  service  until  the  close  of  the  fighting  part  of 
the  conflict.  "  I  shall  ever  remember  your  fath- 
er," said  the  late  Gen.  Wilcox  of  Killingworth,  to 
the  writer,  "  for  in  the  army  he  always  carried 
the  whole  works  of  Josephus  in  his  knapsack." 

He  was  a  man  of  undaunted  courage.  On  one 
occasion,  he,  with  only  an  elder  brother,  repelled  a 
boat's  crew  of  the  marauding  refugees,  who  were 
attempting  to  land  at  Guilford  Neck.  Subsequent- 
ly a  large  band  of  refugees,  led  by  a  Captain  Hath- 
away of  Suffield,  landed  at  the  same  point,  plun- 
dered the  family  mansion,  and  made  the  deceased 
a  prisoner.  During  the  passage  of  the  free-boot- 
ers  down  the  Sound,  they  encountered  a  flotilla  of 
boats  manned  by  the  Whigs,  and  after  a  smart 
skirmish  the  former  were  taken.  Their  prisoner 


202  REV.    WILLIAM    STONE. 

always,  in  relating  the  affair,  expressed  his  mor- 
tification at  the  cowardice  of  his  captors  in  this 
combat.  This  Captain  Hathaway  was  somewhat 
celebrated  for  his  piratical  exploits  in  the  service 
of  the  crown,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  Remembrancer 
— a  periodical  published  in  London  during  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  and  generally  devoted  as 
a  record  of  the  events  of  that  contest. 

The  belligerent  part  of  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion being  over,  Mr.  Stone  resumed  his  studies, 
and  passed  his  freshman  year  at  Dartmouth  col- 
lege. The  late  celebrated  Stephen  Burroughs 
was  there,  a  classmate,  and  in  good  standing. — 
The  three  subsequent  years  of  his  collegiate  life 
were  passed  at  Yale,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
1786.  The  graduating  class  of  that  year  stands 
out  in  proud  relief,  for  the  many  distinguished 
men  it  contained.  Mr.  Stone  was  a  good  mathe- 
matician, but  occupied  a  high  rank  as  a  linguist. 
Of  Greek  and  Hebrew  he  was  a  thorough  mas- 
ter ;  and  because  of  his  fondness  for,  and  profi- 
ciency in,  the  Hebrew,  he  was  a  great  favorite  of 
his  preceptor  in  that  department  of  letters,  Presi- 
dent Stiles.  Doctor  Stiles  was  a  man  of  great 
learning,  and  was  a  profound  Hebraist.  He  cor- 
responded with  many  learned  men  of  the  east, 
and  with  several  rabbins,  one  of  whom  resided  in 
Jerusalem.  He  thought  there  could  scarcely  be 
any  genuine  sacred  music  except  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue,  and  was  wont  to  engage  his  favorite  pupil 


REV.    WILLIAM    STONE.  203 

to  visit  him  for  the  purpose  of  helping  him  to  sing 
in  that  venerated  language. 

The  college  chum  of  Mr.  Stone  was  John  Bird, 
of  Litchfield,  who  afterward  settled  in  Troy, 
and  was  early  distinguished  at  the  bar  of  this 
State,  in  the  State  legislature,  and  also  for  a  brief 
though  brilliant  career  in  Congress. 

Pursuing  vigorously  the  study  of  theology,  Mr. 
Stone  was  soon  licensed  as  a  candidate  for  ordi- 
nation, by  the  Connecticut  Association,  and  for 
thirty-five  years  thereafter  occupied  a  wider  field, 
and  performed  more  clerical  labor,  than  almost 
any  other  man.  He  was  stationed  at  one  period 
at  Claremont,  New  Hampshire,  and  at  another 
period  at  Brattleborough,  Vermont.  From  the 
east  he  performed  a  voluntary  mission  through 
all  the  original  States  except  Rhode  Island,  into 
Florida.  Nearly  four  years  of  this  time  he  spent 
in  the  two  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  where  he  form- 
ed extensive  acquaintances.  For  a  considerable 
time  he  was  in  the  family  of  General  Wayne, 
then  residing  in  Georgia,  upon  a  plantation  pre- 
sented him  by  that  State  for  his  revolutionary 
services.  While  traversing  the  regions  of  the 
south,  the  deceased  encountered  several  wild  and 
thrilling  adventures. 

Returning  to  the  north,  he  preached  for  a  sea- 
son in  the  eastern  part  of  Long  Island,  where  he 
had  previously  taught  school.  He  then  removed 
into  the  State  of  New- York,  accepting  a  parish  in 


204  REV.    WILLIAM    STONE. 

the  then  extensive  town  of  New-Paltz,  in  the 
county  of  Ulster,  where  he  was  ordained — the 
Rev.  Stanley  Griswold,  then  of  New-Melford, 
Conn.,  preaching  the  sermon.  Mr.  Griswold 
was  a  classmate :  but  afterward  relinquished  the 
ministry,  and  became  a  prominent  politician,  first 
as  an  editor  of  a  newspaper  in  New  Hampshire. 
He  was  engaged  for  that  post  by  the  celebrated 
and  eloquent  colloquialist,  Seth  Hunt.  By  the 
assistance  of  Mr.  Griswold,  a  man  of  splendid 
talents,  Mr.  Hunt  was  enabled  to  revolutionize 
New  Hampshire,  and  bring  it  into  the  support  of 
Mr.  Jefferson's  administration.  Mr.  Griswold 
was  subsequently  appointed  secretary  of  the 
territory  of  Michigan,  and  removed  to  Detroit. 
From  thence  he  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he  was 
appointed  a  judge ;  but  he  shortly  afterward 
took  up  his  abode  in  Indiana,  where  he  was 
elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  but 
died  before  he  took  his  seat. 

But  to  return  to  the  subject  of  the  present 
article.  Not  being  able  to  preach  in  Dutch,  as  the 
good  people  of  New-Paltz  desired  him  to  do  in 
every  alternate  service,  Mr.  Stone  removed  in 
the  spring  of  1793,  into  the  valley  of  the  Susque- 
hanna  river,  to  the  town  of  Jericho,  (now  Bain- 
bridge.)  During  the  period  of  five  years,  he 
preached  alternately  in  Jericho  and  the  surround- 
ing towns  of  Delaware,  Otsego,  Chenango,  and 


REV.    WILLIAM    STONE.  205 

Tioga  counties,  performing  the  duties  of  a  mis- 
sionary with  unremitting  zeal  and  labor. 

The  country  was  new  and  wild,  and  the 
fatigues  and  deprivations  of  the  missionary  great. 
Among  the  inhabitants  of  the  forests  between  the 
Delaware  and  Susquehanna  rivers,  which  he  was 
often  compelled  to  traverse,  was  the  untameable 
panther,  in  rather  unwelcome  numbers.  On  one 
occasion  the  missionary  was  honored  by  the 
company  of  a  panther  for  several  miles,  scream- 
ing in  most  unwelcome  proximity.  It  was  on 
his  return  from  one  of  these  missionary  ex- 
cursions to  the  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  that 
an  incident  occurred  illustrating  the  heroism  of 
the  woman  whom  he  had  chosen  as  his  com- 
panion for  life,  and  who  yet  survives — having 
been  the  participator  of  his  labors,  travels,  and 
trials  for  more  than  half  a  century.  There  were 
in  those  days  neither  bridges  nor  boats  upon  that 
section  of  the  Susquehanna,  save  a  clumsy  scow, 
at  a  distant  ferry.  The  scattered  settlers,  there- 
fore, used  canoes  in  their  intercourse  with  each 
other  across  the  river.  During  the  absence  of 
Mr.  Stone,  at  the  time  referred  to,  which  was  at 
the  close  of  winter,  a  sudden  thaw  had  broken 
up  the  ice  by  which  the  stream  had  been  fettered, 
and  the  dissolving  snow  had  swollen  the  always 
impetuous  torrent  to  the  full  capacity  of  its 
banks.  It  was  in  this  situation  of  the  river, 
while  its  surface  was  bearing  along  the  tumbling 
18 


306  REV.    WILLIAM   STONE. 

masses  of  ice  and  pieces  of  broken  timber,  that 
the  wife,  from  the  door  of  their  habitation, 
situated  upon  the  western  side,  saw  her  husband 
upon  the  opposite  bank.  With  the  affection,  and 
more  than  the  courage  of  her  sex,  she  proceeded 
to  the  river's  brink,  and  with  eyes  open  to  the 
hazard  she  was  encountering,  stepped  into  the 
canoe  belonging  to  them,  and  boldly  pushed 
forth  into  the  angry  stream. 

The  weather  had  suddenly  become  cold,  so 
that  with  every  rise  of  the  setting-pole,  the  water 
congealed  to  ice,  while  the  canoe  itself,  by  the 
force  of  the  torrent,  and  the  floes  of  ice,  was 
hurried  at  times  rapidly  down  the  stream.  But 
her  courage  and  energy  held  out,  and  she  safely 
crossed  the  flood,  landing  at  perhaps  a  mile 
below  her  point  of  departure.  This  incident  is 
introduced,  not  merely  as  a  striking  case  of 
female  intrepidity,  but  as  serving  as  a  faint  illus- 
tration of  the  hardships  encountered  in  border 
life. 

In  the  autumn  of  1 797  Mr.  Stone  removed  into  the 
county  of  Otsego,  and  was  the  first  Presbyterian 
clergyman  there,  west  of  Cooperstown.  For  ten 
years  he  labored  in  that  county,  chiefly  in  the 
towns  of  Burlington,  Butternuts,  Pittsfield,  Exeter, 
and  Hartwick — preaching  alternately  to  the  dif- 
ferent churches.  His  fellow-laborer  in  those  (at 
that  time)  wild  settlements,  was  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Nash,  (Father  Nash,  as  he  was  called,  and  the 


REV.    WILLIAM    STONE.  207 

Rev.  Mr.  Grant  of  Cooper's  '  Pioneers,')  who  was 
his  kinsman,  and  cotemporary  with  him  in  college, 
though  of  the  class  preceding  him.  But  he  seem- 
ed almost  as  averse  to  the  tide  of  civilization  as 
Leatherstocking  himself;  and  encountering  some 
parochial  bad  treatment,  he  again,  in  1807, 
plunged  into  the  wild  woods  of  Salmon  river,  in  the 
section  of  country  now  forming  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  county  of  Oswego.  Here,  for  seven 
or  eight  years  more,  he  preached  to  the  new  set- 
tlements of  Oneida  and  Jefferson  counties. 

In  the  year  1817  he  removed  to  the  town  of 
Junius,  and  thence,  in  1819,  to  Sodus,  on  the 
south  shore  of  Lake  Ontario.  During  the  years 
1818  and  1819,  he  was  employed  by  the  Albany 
Missionary  Society,  in  the  southwestern  counties 
of  this  State,  bordering  upon  Pennsylvania,  and 
in  1820-21,  by  the  Young  Men's  Missionary  So- 
ciety of  New  York.  His  labors  in  that  field 
were  alike  faithful  and  severe  ;  but  a  bodily  in- 
firmity, arising  from  an  accident  some  years  be- 
fore, which  occurred  on  the  felling  of  a  tree,  ren- 
dered it  impossible  for  him  to  continue  his  min- 
isterial labors,  and  the  last  eighteen  years  of  his 
life  were  passed  for  the  most  part  in  seclusion. 
His  last  visit  to  the  city  of  New  York  was  in 
1823. 

Mr.  Stone  was  an  eccentric  man.  The  ill 
treatment  referred  to  above  sank  deep  into  his 
mind,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  soured  it  with 


208  REV.    WILLIAM    STONE. 

the  world — for  which,  indeed,  or  for  its  opinions, 
he  unfortunately  never  cared  enough.  The  coun- 
try has  produced  few  better  scholars  in  the  lan- 
guages. But  he  used  them  only  for  his  own  pri- 
vate gratification,  occasionally  by  preparing  a 
student  for  college,  and  once,  for  a  season,  when 
he  was  in  charge  of  the  formerly  celebrated  aca- 
demy at  Fairfield,  New  York.  He  was  by  na- 
ture a  very  proud  man,  but  his  pride  was  peculiar 
to  himself,  and  utterly  unlike  that  of  any  other 
man.  And  yet  he  possessed  less  of  worldly  am- 
bition than  any  other  gentleman  of  education 
whom  we  have  known. 

It  seemed  to  be  his  great  delight  to  crowd  up- 
on the  wildest  border  of  civilization,  and  preach 
the  gospel  among  the  rudest  people.  But  during 
all  the  changes  of  his  location,  and  the  other  vi- 
cissitudes of  his  life,  there  were  two  objects  which 
he  never  forgot — his  God  and  the  classics.  His 
daily  habit,  at  least  down  to  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber preceding  his  death,  when  his  health  began 
more  seriously  to  fail,  was  to  study  the  Scriptures 
in  the  originals  ;  and  with  Homer,  Xenophon, 
the  Greek  Testament,  Horace,  Juvenal,  and  Ci- 
cero, not  to  forget  the  Hebrew  Bible,  he  would 
set  himself  down  in  the  most  dreary  spot  in  the 
world,  "nor  feel  its  idle  whirl."  His  memory 
was  truly  wonderful.  What  he  once  read,  he 
seemed  ever  to  retain;  and. the  whole  range  of 
ancient  and  modern  history,  even  to  the  minutise, 


EEV.    WILLIAM    STONE.  209 

with  all  the  miscellaneous  stories  of  voyages  and 
travels,  was  ever  at  his  command.  His  family 
lectures  or  conversations  upon  these  subjects,  in 
the"  early  years  of  the  writer,  were  better  than 
volumes  of  reading — while  subsequent  study,  in 
years  of  greater  maturity,  has  but  served  to  test 
their  accuracy. 

A  more  patriotic  heart  than  his  never  throbbed 
in  a  human  bosom.  He  loved  his  country,  and 
its  civil  and  religious  institutions,  above  all  price. 
But  during  the  last  ten  years  his  mind  was 
clouded  with  dark  forebodings  in  regard  to  the 
stability  of  the  great  political  edifice  of  which 
Washington  was  the  chief  architect,  and  himself 
one  of  the  humble  builders.  In  the  last  letter  he 
wrote,  which  was  long,  and  expressed  with  un- 
common clearness,  after  adverting  to  the  course 
of  the  present  Administration,  he  concluded,  "  In- 
deed, I  feel  very  anxious  for  the  liberties  and 
privileges  of  our  dear  country." 

During  the  last  few  years,  his  religious  char- 
acter and  affections  were  severely  tried  and 
highly  refined,  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  He 
had  successively  buried  five  of  his  children,  three 
sons  and  two  daughters,  all  between  the  ages  of 
twenty  and  twenty-six.  But  he  bowed  submis- 
sively, and  without  a  murmur.  He  felt  the 
chastening  rod,  but  saw  also  the  hand  that  inflict- 
ed it,  and,  like  Job,  was  ready  to  console  himself 
by  the  reflection,  "  The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord 
18* 


210  REV.    WILLIAM    STONE. 

hath  taken  away:  blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
Lord."  His  sickness  was  protracted  for  several 
weeks,  but  its  whole  course  was  marked  by  the 
most  delightful  manifestations  of  the  Christian 
faith  and  character.  To  the  inquiries  of  his 
daughter,  who  watched  his  bedside  till  the  last,  if 
he  had  any  fearful  apprehensions  of  death,  he 
said,  shortly  before  he  departed — "  Not  in  the 
least ;  all  is  calm.  I  believe  the  Saviour  is  my 
Saviour — God's  will  be  done."  During  the  last 
three  days  of  his  life,  his  mind  was  clear  and  se- 
rene, and  a  mark  of  impatience  was  never  mani- 
fested by  him  in  his  illness. 

At  length  "  the  wheels  of  life  stood  still,"  and 
his  spirit  has  gone  to  its  rest. 

It  is  presumed  that  the  public  will  excuse  the 
perhaps  seeming  egotism  of  the  foregoing  rapid 
tribute  of  a  son  to  the  memory  of  a  father, — but 
there  was  no  other  hand  to  perform  the  office. 


211 


GOVERNOR   WOLF. 

GEORGE  WOLF  was  born  on  the  12th  of  August, 
1777,  in  Allen  township,  Northampton  county, 
Pennsylvania.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Ger- 
many, and  a  man  justly  and  universally  esteemed 
for  his  integrity.  His  son  spent  some  years  in 
the  study  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  in  a 
classical  school  in  his  native  county,  where  he  sub- 
sequently studied  law,  under  the  direction  of 
Hon.  John  Ross.  He  was  a  zealous  advocate 
for  the  election  of  President  Jefferson,  and  in 
1814  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the  years 
1824,  1826,  and  1828,  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  Congress,  the  latter  year  by  a  very  large 
majority,  and  the  two  former  years  without  any 
opposition.  In  Congress  he  was  distinguished 
for  his  habitual  industry  and  attention  to  business, 
and  while  chairman  of  an  important  committee, 
he  made  numerous  reports,  evincing  those  powers 
of  investigation  and  discrimination  for  which,  it  is 
conceded  by  all,  he  was  remarkable.  As  a 
speaker,  he  was  plain  and  argumentative,  using 
good  language,  and  conveying  his  ideas  with 
great  precision.  He  was  known  to  be  a  decided 


212  GOVERNOR    WOLF. 

friend  of  the  American  system  and  internal  im- 
provements ;  and  the  interests  of  education  had 
at  all  times  received  from  him  a  steady  support. 
These  qualities,  added  to  the  strictest  integrity, 
had  become  so  well  known,  and  were  so  highly 
appreciated  by  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  that, 
in  1829,  they  elected  Mr.  Wolf  Governor  of  the 
Commonwealth.  So  far  from  having  been  an 
aspirant  to  this  distinguished  station,  there  is  the 
best  authority  for  saying  that  he  was  placed  in 
nomination  by  the  State  Convention  entirely 
without  his  knowledge.  He  yielded  to  the 
wishes  of  the  people,  who  had  selected  him  for 
their  chief  magistrate,  and,  abandoning  a  lucrative 
practice  in  his  profession,  entered  upon  his  official 
duties  as  Governor  in  the  latter  end  of  December, 
1829.  He  found  the  affairs  of  the  State  in  an 
embarrassed  condition,  owing  to  the  extensive 
scheme  of  internal  improvement  in  which  she  had 
embarked,  and  for  meeting  the  expenses  of  which 
suitable  provision  had  not  been  made.  But  in 
this  crisis  of  public  affairs,  as  at  all  subsequent 
periods,  Governor  Wolf  followed  the  impulses 
of  a  sound  and  enlightened  judgment,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  the  ship  of  state  safely  through 
her  trying  emergencies. 

Although  Governor  Wolf  was  a  supporter  of 
General  Jackson,  on  each  of  the  occasions  when 
that  individual  was  before  the  American  people 
for  the  distinguished  station  of  President  of  the 


GOVERNOR    WOLF.  213 

United  States,  still  there  were  some  important 
measures  of  public  policy  in  which  he  entertain- 
ed opinions  somewhat  at  variance  with  those  of 
the  late  President.  Believing  the  United  States 
Bank  to  possess  a  salutary  influence  in  regulating 
the  currency  of  the  country,  he  approved  and 
signed  a  resolution  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature, 
in  favor  of  rechartering  that  institution.  After 
the  publication  of  General  Jackson's  celebrated 
veto,  and  during  the  progress  of  the  electioneering 
campaign,  some  of  the  friends  of  the  bank  endea- 
vored to  procure  from  the  governor  an  expres- 
sion of  opinion  adverse  to  the  re-election  of  Gene- 
ral Jackson.  But  Governor  Wolfs  opinion  of 
the  qualifications  of  Andrew  Jackson  for  the 
Presidency,  at  that  critical  period  of  the  history 
of  the  country,  did  not  depend  upon  the  views  en- 
tertained by  the  General  on  the  bank  question. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  friends  of  the 
bank  in  Pennsylvania  united  with  the  anti-ma- 
sonic and  anti-improvement  party,  in  opposing 
the  re-election  of  Governor  Wolf,  which  took  place 
in  the  October  preceding.  Notwithstanding  this 
procedure  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  the  bank, 
Governor  Wolf,  on  his  re-election,  in  his  first 
message  to  the  legislature,  reiterated  his  opinions 
in  favor  of  the  United  States  Bank.  It  was  re- 
marked by  a  member  of  the  legislature,  (an  oppo- 
nent of  the  bank,)  in  reference  to  this  high-minded 
and  magnanimous  proceeding,  that  "  it  added  one 


214  GOVERNOR    WOLF. 

more  to  the  many  evidences  already  before  the 
people  of  Pennsylvania,  that  their  affairs  were 
safely  confided  to  the  care  of  a  chief  magistrate, 
whose  exalted  purity  of  motive  and  unflinching 
firmness,  in  the  pursuit  of  what  he  believed  to  be 
right,  placed  him  above  the  storm  of  party  excite- 
ment, and  beyond  the  reach  of  those  influences 
which  are  too  apt  to  agitate,  and  render  unsteady 
in  their  purposes,  the  rest  of  mankind." 

At  the  last  session  of  the  legislature,  during  his 
gubernatorial  term,  numerous  bills  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  banks  throughout  the  State  were  un- 
der consideration,  and  several  of  them  were 
passed  and  sent  to  him  for  his  signature.  But  he 
made  no  scruple  to  exercise  the  veto  power,  re- 
posed in  him  by  the  constitution,  whenever,  in  his 
judgement,  the  interests  of  the  country  required 
it.  At  different  periods  during  the  session,  he  re- 
turned, with  his  objections,  three  bills  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  banks,  and  one  for  withdrawing 
from  the  cognizance  of  the  Supreme  Court  cer- 
tain claims  for  canal  damages.  On  each  of  these 
occasions,  attempts  were  made  to  procure  the 
passage  of  the  bills  by  the  votes  of  two-thirds — 
the  number  required  by  the  constitution  to  pass  a 
law  without  the  approbation  of  the  governor. 
But  so  forcible  were  his  arguments,  and  so  abiding 
the  confidence  in  his  judgement  and  devotion  to 
the  public  interests,  that  he  was  constantly  sus- 
tained by  a  majority  of  the  house  in  which  the 


GOVEENOR    WOLF.  215 

bills  originated — that  body,  on  receiving  the  go- 
vernor's objections,  uniformly  receding  from  the 
bills  which  had  previously  received  their  sanc- 
tion. 

After  Mr.  Ritner's  election  as  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Wolf  was  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  Collector  of  the 
Customs  for  the  port  of  Philadelphia,  and  he  con- 
tinued to  discharge  the  duties  of  that  office  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  14th  of  March, 
1840.  On  the  morning  of  that  day,  as  he  was 
about  to  ascend  the  steps  leading  into  the  entrance 
of  the  Custom-House,  to  proceed  to  his  duties,  he 
was  observed  to  falter  in  his  gait,  and  to  exhibit 
signs  of  a  paroxysm.  A  chair  was  immediately 
brought  him,  in  which  he  was  removed  within 
the  Custom-House,  where  he  almost  instanta- 
neously sunk  dead.  It  is  presumed  that  the  cause 
of  this  sudden  and  solemn  death  was  an  affection 
of  the  heart. 

In  all  his  private  relations  he  sustained  an  en- 
viable reputation  ;  and  his  political  opponents,  we 
believe,  never  assailed  his  private  character. 


216 


CAPTAIN  JAMES   RILEY. 

THIS  well-known  author  of  an  interesting  personal 
narrative  was  born  in  Middletown,  Connecticut, 
on  the  27th  of  October,  1777.  He  spent  his  early 
youth  in  laboring  upon  a  farm,  enjoying  no  pri- 
vileges for  the  attainment  of  an  education  except 
such  as  were  afforded  by  the  Common  School 
system  of  his  native  State,  which  at  that  time 
were  exceedingly  meagre.  When  fifteen  years 
old  he  shipped  on  board  a  sloop  bound  to  the 
West  Indies,  aad  ever  afterwards  followed  the 
seafaring  business  as  his  profession.  He  was 
soon  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  vessel  ;  and, 
in  1808,  being  then  captain  of  the  Two  Marys  of 
New  York,  his  ship  was  seized  by  the  French 
while  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  confiscated  under 
the  memorable  Milan  Decree  of  the  17th  of  De- 
cember, 1807.  He  remained  for  some  time  in 
France,  and  returned  to  his  native  country  in 
1809.  For  some  few  years  he  was  extremely 
unfortunate  in  his  business,  steadily  refusing  the 
most  tempting  offers,  during  the  continuance  of 
hostilities,  to  accept  the  command  of  vessels  navi- 
gated, contrary  to  the  laws  of  war,  under  foreign 


CAPTAIN    JAMES    RILEY.  217 

licenses.  In  April,  1815,  he  was  employed  as 
master  and  supercargo  of  the  brig  Commerce,  of 
Hartford,  and  sailed  for  New  Orleans.  With 
great  difficulty  he  reached  that  port,  and,  after 
having  exchanged  his  cargo,  set  sail  for  Gibraltar. 
Arriving  there,  he  took  on  board  a  cargo  of  bran- 
dies and  wines,  and  set  sail  for  the  Cape  de  Verd 
Islands,  where  he  intended  to  complete  the  lading 
of  the  vessel  with  salt.  In  this  voyage  he  was 
shipwrecked,  and  thrown  upon  the  coast  of  Africa. 
For  some  eighteen  months  he  was  detained  as  a 
slave  by  the  Arabs,  clans  of  whom  were  canni- 
bals, where  he  endured  almost  incredible  suffer- 
ings and  hardships,  in  consequence  of  which,  as 
he  states  in  his  narrative,  he  became  reduced 
from  his  natural  weight  of  about  240  to  60  pounds. 
He  was  finally  ransomed  by  Mr.  Wiltshire  of 
Mogadore,  and  the  ransom  money  for  himself 
and  his  companions  was  afterwards  paid  by  the 
United  States,  under  the  administration  of  James 
"  Monroe. 

Immediately  after  his  return  to  this  country 
he  published  a  narrative  of  his  sufferings  and 
adventures,  which  disclosed  such  extraordinary 
perils,  and  apparently  miraculous  deliverances, 
that  his  statements  at  first  obtained  but  little  ere- 

* 

dence,  and  the  whole  account  was  for  some  time 
regarded  as  a  mere  romance.  Its  details  were> 
however,  abundantly  confirmed  by  subsequent 
accounts,  and  particularly  by  the  corroborative 
19 


218  CAPTAIN    JAMES    RILEY. 

testimony  of  Judah  Paddock,  who  had  been 
wrecked  nearly  in  the  same  place,  and  suffered 
severely  among  the  savages  of  that  coast.  After 
his  return  to  this  country,  he  resided  for  some 
years  in  Ohio  ;  and  subsequently  resorted  again 
to  his  former  employment,  trading  almost  wholly 
at  the  port  of  Mogadore. 

Captain  Riley  in  many  respects  was  an  extra- 
ordinary man  ;  he  had  a  strong  mind,  great  ener- 
gy and  perseverance  of  character,  not  easily 
daunted  by  danger,  was  grateful  to  the  last  for 
the  kindness  shewn  to  him  in  adversity,  and  pos- 
sessed many  excellent  traits  of  character.  His 
work,  which  may  be  considered  an  authentic  de- 
tail, has  had  a  wide  circulation,  and  has  always 
been  considered  a  very  interesting  narrative. 

He  died  on  the  15th  of  March,  1840,  on  board 
his  brig  the  William  Tell,  bound  to  Morocco,  in 
the  63d  year  of  his  age. 


219 


STEPHEN   BURROUGHS. 

"But  Heaven  forbid  that  a  thief  should  die, 
Without  his  share  of  the  laws !" 

OLD  RHYME. 

"  WE  have  taken  our  pen  in  hand,"  as  the  primitive 
epistolary  exordium  hath  it,  to  bring  anew  to  the 
mind  of  the  reader  his  old,  unforgotten  enter- 
tainer, STEPHEN  BURROUGHS.  Burroughs  !  To  us, 
at  least,  there  is  magic  in  the  name.  Memory 
awakens  at  its  mention,  and  goes  back  with 
untiring  step  to  the  days  of  boyhood,  when 
Sinbad,  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  Stephen  Burroughs 
were  triumvirate  aspirants  for  the  meed  of  our 
juvenile  approbation.  Truth  spoke  like  fiction — 
fiction  plead  like  truth — and  Burroughs  bore 
away  the  palm  !  But  those  days  were  brief. 
We  lived  to  learn  that  Sinbad  was  but  an  idle 
whim,  and  that  Robinson  Crusoe  was  an  over- 
drawn tale,  fraught  with  more  fancy  than  fact : 
but  of  the  veritable  story  of  the  renowned  deeds 
of  the  "  great  unhung,"  we  may  say  with  the 
bard, 

"'Tis  true,  'tis  pity — pity  'tis  'tis  true  !" 
There  was    one  thing    about    the  volume  of 


220  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

Stephen  which  our  juvenile  philosophy  could  not 
fathom,  and  that  was  the  motto  of  the  title-page : 

"  When  such  sad  scenes  the  bosom  pain, 
What  eye  from  weeping  can  refrain  ?" 

For  our  own  part,  we  thought  the  scenes  any- 
thing but  sad.  They  were  all  full  of  fun,  and 
the  measure  was  by  no  means  stinted.  'Tis  true 
that  now  and  then  a  frosty  chain  would  press 
gallingly  upon  the  leg  of  the  hero :  but  what  of 
that  ?  He  had  his  fun  in  getting  into  the  scrape, 
and  he  would  have  his  sport  in  getting  out. 
Why  should  our  bosom  be  pained  when  the  ad- 
venturer himself  seemed  to  enjoy  his  "  scenes" 
so  lovingly  ?  Then,  as  to  "  weeping," — this  ap- 
peared utterly  out  of  the  question.  Our  nature 
was  as  lachrymose  as  generally  falls  to  the  lot 
of  boyhood.  But  we  found  in  the  adventures  of 
Stephen  no  claim  upon  the  fountain  of  pity. 
Our  ribs  were  oftener  sufferers  than  our  "  eyes." 
Thus  much  for  our  boyish  experience  !  Now  we 
find  ourself  with  the  old  book  again  in  hand,  and 
may  perchance  do  better  justice  to  its  merits. 

Stephen  Burroughs  was  the  son  of  a  clergy- 
man of  Hanover,  in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire. 
From  such  paternity,  one  would  naturally  look 
for  a  corresponding  character  in  the  son.  But 
such  things  go  at  times,  as  dreams  are  said  to 
do,  by  contraries.  Often,  too  often,  will  children 


STEPHEN   BURROUGHS.  221 

"bring  down  the  gray  hairs  of  parents  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave."  The  subject  of  our 
sketch  complains  of  too  great  rigidity  in  his 
parental  education.  There  may  be  truth  and 
propriety  in  the  complaint.  Discipline  overdone, 
is  worse,  sometimes,  than  no  discipline  at  all. 
The  mind  of  the  young,  as  has  been  frequently 
remarked,  resembles  the  pliant  and  flexible  bow. 
It  yields  easily  to  influence — still  more  readily  to 
authority.  But  one  must  be  careful  how  he 
exercises  his  authority.  Let  him  remember  he 
cannot  always  retain  it.  If  he  impose  too  severe 
restraint,  if  he  strain  the  mind  of  his  child  or 
pupil  to  its  utmost  tension,  as  the  released  bow 
flies  to  an  opposite  direction,  so  he  will  see  with 
pain  the  tender  subject  of  his  cares  and  anxieties 
rush  with  fatal  eagerness  to  an  opposite  extreme 
of  vice  and  folly. 

Be  this  fact  as  it  may  in  relation  to  the  present 
subject,  we  find  young  Burroughs,  even  in  his 
early  boyhood,  impatient  of  control,  and  imbued 
with  an  indomitable  love  of  mischief.  This  he 
gratified  on  every  possible  occasion — not  ap- 
parently from  a  desire  to  do  injury,  (for  cruelty 
seems  to  have  formed  no  constituent  in  his 
character,)  but  from  the  merriment  he  derived 
from  the  ingenuity  of  its  execution,  and  the  often 
incomparable  drollery  of  the  denouement.  Of 
course,  this  in  no  way  tended  to  his  personal 
19* 


222  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

popularity  in  the  neighborhood,  and  often  drew 
down  upon  him  a  merited  punishment. 

Like  most  wild-brained  youth,  Burroughs 
seems  to  have  been  possessed  of  a  good  degree 
of  romantic  fervor ;  and  this  having  been 
nourished  and  increased  by  a  due  amount  of 
most  injudicious  novel-reading,  at  length  assumed 
a  military  turn.  Consequently,  his  first  ad- 
venture was  in  character  with  his  propensity. 
During  the-  year  1779,  at  the  age  of  14,  he  ran 
away  from  home,  and  joined  a  company  of  con- 
tinental soldiers.  He  was  twice  brought  back 
by  the  strong  arm  of  parental  authority  ;  but  he 
finally  effected  his  escape,  and  joined  the  com- 
pany again,  armed  and  equipped  with  clothes, 
blankets,  bread  and  cheese,  and  an  old  musket, 
long  guiltless  of  breaking  the  peace.  He  ac- 
companied the  soldiers  to  head-quarters :  but 
finding  that  military  glory  was  not  what  it  had 
appeared  to  his  ardent  fancy,  he  took  French 
leave  of  his  warlike  friends,  and  returned  to  his 
father's  house. 

Satisfied  with  his  military  achievements,  the 
hero  entered  upon  a  new  scene,  determined  to 
win  spoils  from  the  classic  field.  He  was  placed 
by  his  father  at  a  school  in  Coventry,  Con- 
necticut, under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hunting- 
ton.  O  rare  devotee  of  learning  !  The  studies 
of  his  persevering  assiduity  are  as  fresh  in 
memory  as  if  we  had  perused  them  but  yester- 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  223 

day.  We  can  see  the  identical  apple-orchard 
and  water-melon  patch,  where  he  paid  his  noc- 
turnal devoirs.  We  can  hear  the 'crash  of  the 
tumbling  wood,  as  the  unfortunate  owner  opened 
the  door,  against  which  it  had  been  piled.  We 
can  see  the  young  rascal  scampering  at  the 
farmer's  approach,  until  he  had  decoyed  him  to 
a  filthy  ditch.  Here  the  wily  student  suddenly 
falls,  and  away  goes  the  hurrying  boor,  heels- 
over-head  into  the  slough,  carrying  away,  how- 
ever, one  of  Stephen's  coat-skirts.  Then  what  a 
figure  the  scholastic  youth  must  have  cut  on  the 
following  day,  robbed  of  one  of  his  flowing 
honors,  exhibiting  himself  in  detail  to  his  quizzing 
companions  !  Such  devoted  labors  of  course 
were  rapidly  preparing  him  for  college.  And 
when  he  had  further  qualified  himself  by  other 
such  like  exploits,  and  concluded  by  appro- 
priating to  himself  the  free  use  of  a  neighbor's 
horse,  without  saddle  or  bridle,  by  which  oper- 
ation the  condition  of  the  quadruped  was  in  no  way 
improved,  and  by  which  operation  the  condition 
of  the  biped  was  materially  injured,  by  exposure, 
prosecution,  and  reasonable  damages,  his  affec- 
tionate instructor  despatched  him  to  his  father, 
as  duly  qualified  to  enter  upon  a  higher  depart- 
ment of  study. 

At  the  following  Commencement  of  Dartmouth 
College,  in  the  year  1781,  Burroughs  presented 
himself  for  examination,  and  was  admitted.  His 


224  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

collegiate  course  could  easily  be  anticipated. 
"  The  twig"  was  already  "  bent" — it  would  re- 
quire no  shrewd  foresight  to  determine  the 
inclination  of  "the  tree."  His  reputation  had 
gone  before  him,  and  the  eyes  of  the  "  faculty" 
were  fixed  searchingly  upon  him  at  his  first  en- 
trance. But,  however  accustomed  the  learned 
magistrates  were  to  deal  with  rogues,  they  had 
their  master  in  Burroughs  for  a  time.  He  suc- 
ceeded entirely  in  some  pranks,  and,  among 
others,  in  getting  the  whole  town  aroused  at  an 
alarm  of  Indian  spies.  The  "  spies"  were  no 
other  than  Burroughs  and  a  companion,  return- 
ing from  some  usual  water-melon  appointment. 
The  alarm  spread — the  militia  turned  out — and 
among  the  foremost  in  the  investigation  was  the 
honest  author  of  the  confusion.  The  affair  was 
"blown,"  however,  and  its  perpetrator  saved 
himself  from  college  censure  only  by  stealing  a 
march  on  his  professors,  and  paying  for  the 
stolen  fruit  before  he  could  be  arraigned  before 
the  bar  of  college  authority.  His  rogueries  at 
last  became  an  annoyance  to  himself.  "  A  liar 
is  not  to  be  believed,"  says  an  old  and  wholesome 
adage,  "  even  when  he  speaks  the  truth  :"  and 
Burroughs  found  the  practical  application  of  the 
principle  far  from  agreeable.  So  celebrated  had 
his  name  become  for  all  mischief,  that  suspicion 
was  in  advance  of  him.  And  at  last,  wearied 
with  the  rigid  surveillance  of  those  in  authority 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  225 

over  him,  he  grew  tired  of  college  life,  and  with 
his  classic  laurels  thick  about  him,  he  returned 
once  more  to  his  paternal  roof. 

After  refreshing  himself  from  his  late  toils  by  a 
suitable  repose,  Burroughs  now  looked  about  him 
to  choose  some  scene  for  action  in  the  great  thea- 
tre of  the  world.  As  the  army  had  at  first  at- 
tracted his  attention,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder 
that  the  sea  should  have  presented  the  next 
claim.  Accordingly,  we  find  him  at  the  age  of 
17,  fitted  with  all  necessary  appliances,  and  bend- 
ing his  course  toward  Newburyport,  Massachu- 
setts. Here  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  berth  as 
physician,  on  board  a  packet,  having  a  letter  of 
marque  to  France.  The  voyage  was  not  unat- 
tended with  incidents.  The  packet  captured  a 
brig  from  New  York,  bound  to  London,  which 
proved  a  rich  prize.  When  she  had  nearly 
gained  her  destined  port,  she  fell  in  with  an  Eng- 
lish vessel,  carrying  18  guns,  which  evinced  a 
decided  disinclination  to  become  a  prize.  A 
severe  fight  ensued,  in  which  many  lives  were 
lost  on  either  side,  and  much  injury  sustained  by 
the  vessels.  It  was  terminated  by  the  retreat  of 
the  Englishman,  and  soon  after  the  packet  reach- 
ed France  in  safety. 

From  his  share  of  the  prize-money,  the  "  doc- 
tor" was  enabled  to  spend  a  few  weeks  in  travel- 
ling. His  "  trip"  was  a  brief  one,  and  in  a  few 
weeks  he  was  again  on  the  sea,  homeward-bound. 


226  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

An  alteration  had  taken  place  in  the  board  of  ad- 
ministration of  the  floating  empire.  A  man  had 
been  promoted  to  the  office  of  first-mate  whose 
advancement  the  "  doctor"  had  endeavored  to 
prevent.  The  opposition  was  fruitless,  and  the 
result  very  unfavorable  to  Burroughs'  situation. 
The  mate  commenced  a  series  of  petty  annoy- 
ances, greatly  to  the  detriment  of  his  antagonist. 
He  was  ordered  to  leave  the  cabin :  and  after- 
ward, while  recovering  from  a  serious  attack  of 
sickness,  on  some  accusation  of  petty  theft,  poor 
Burroughs  was  thrown  into  irons.  When  the 
vessel  reached  Newburyport,  and  while  our  ad- 
venturer was  preparing  to  demand  a  legal  inves- 
tigation of  his  treatment,  he  was  arrested  in  the 
street,  and  carried  before  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
Here  he  found  as  his  accuser  his  old  friend  the 
mate,  aided  by  one  or  two  colleagues,  prepared  to 
prosecute  the  old  charge  of  misdemeanor  at  sea. 
It  appears  to  have  been  true  that  a  theft  had  been 
committed  on  board  the  vessel.  But  the  mate 
seems  to  have  known  more  about  it  than  any  one 
else,  and  to  have  found  it  particularly  convenient 
to  charge  it  upon  Burroughs,  both  to  screen  him- 
self and  to  gratify  his  malice  for  the  affront 
already  mentioned.  The  charge  was  sustained 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  judge,  and  our  adven- 
turer was  committed  to  jail.  Here  he  remained 
for  a  time,  and  was  discharged  in  a  manner  en- 
tirely unaccountable.  He  was  without  friends, 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  227 

and  without  money,  whereby  he  might  call  his 
persecutors  to  legal  retribution  ;  and  again,  sa- 
tiated with  the  sea,  he  returned  to  his  father's 
board. 

After  a  twelvemonth's  recruit,  Burroughs  next 
determined  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  school- 
teaching.  He  doubtless  thought  that  instruction 
and  discipline  had  both  proved  so  salutary  in  his 
own  case,  that  he  was  peculiarly  qualified  to  im- 
part their  blessings  to  the  rising  generation. 
However  this  may  have  been,  he  made  an  en- 
gagement to  teach  a  school  in  a  town  some  thirty 
miles  distant  from  his  native  place.  Through  the 
kind  offices  of  an  affectionate  college  officer,  who 
retained  an  old  grudge  against  him,  the  citizens 
became  dissatisfied  with  him,  and  Burroughs 
quitted  them  and  his  school.  He  soon  outwitted 
his  professor,  as  he  had  too  often  done  before, 
and  engaged  a  school  in  another  place,  where  he 
established  himself  well  before  his  good  friend 
could  attempt  his  removal.  Consequently  he  was 
enabled  to  fulfil  his  contract  in  peace.  While 
engaged  here,  he  became  a  victim  of  that  potent 
power  which 

"  rules  the  court,  the  camp,  the  grove  !" 

He  became  enamoured  of  a  lady  fair,  "  supposed 
to  be  a  widow."  But  "  the  course  of  true  love," 
which  the  poet  assures  us  is  wont  to  flow  roughly, 


228  STEPHEN    BURBOUGHS. 

seemed  ill-disposed  to  change  its  character  for 
Mr.  Burroughs.  When  the  affections  of  the  fair 
widow  were  supposed  to  be  fairly  won,  her  lover, 
upon  an  occasion,  was  greeted  by  the  unwelcome 
sight  of  her  "  lord  and  master,"  having  returned 
to  claim  his  long-parted  wife.  It  was  a  terrible 
blow  for  the  sighing  lover  :  but  like  most  swains 
similarly  circumstanced,  he  survived. 

Our  adventurer  soon  found  himself  again  upon 
the  world,  possessed  of  the  sum  total  of  one  whole 
pistareen  in  cash.  He  reflected  rapidly  upon 
every  calling  which  generally  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  men,  and  then  determined  upon  that  which 
one  would  naturally  suppose  would  have  been 
the  last  to  enter  his  mind.  Good  reader,  as  you 
are  probably  already  well  aware,  the  conscien- 
tious Mr.  Burroughs  determined  to preach  ! 

We  remember  to  have  read  of  a  similar  character 
who  once  entertained  similar  predilections  for 
clerical  employments : 

"  When  the  de'il  was  sick,  the  de'il  a  monk  would  be ;" 

— but  the  motives  which  actuated  this  personage 
were  far  more  honorable  than  those  to  which  Mr. 
Burroughs  laid  claim.  He  seems  himself  to 
have  entertained  a  pretty  just  estimate  of  his 
clerical  qualities,  and  we  will  cite  his  own  au- 
thority. 
"  Preach  ?  A  pretty  fellow  am  I  for  a  preach- 


STEPHEN  BURROUGHS.  229 

er  !  A  pretty  character  mine,  to  tickle  the  ears  of 
a  grave  audience  !  Run  away  from  my  own  home 
for  being  connected  in  robbing  a  bee-house,  and 
for  my  attention  to  a  married  woman ;  having  been 
through  scenes  of  tumult,  during  my  whole  career, 
since  I  have  exhibited  on  the  active  stage  of  life. 
Besides  all  this,  what  an  appearance  should  I  make 
in  my  present  dress  ? — which  consisted  of  a  light 
grey  coat,  with  silver  plated  buttons,  green  vest, 
and  red  velvet  breeches.  This,  said  I,  is  a  curious 
dress  for  me  to  offer  myself  in,  as  a  preacher ; 
and  I  am  by  no  means  able  to  obtain  a  different 
suit." 

Lest  any  may  wonder  why  he  should  contem- 
plate the  literary  duties  of  his  new  profession 
with  complacency,  let  us  state  that  the  rascal 
had  a  respectable  stock  of  his  father's  old  ser- 
mons in  his  possession.  This  matter  alters  the 
case.  He  was  confident  that  if  he  could  be  ad- 
mitted without  suspicion  into  any  pulpit,  he  could 
discharge  the  duties  thereof  with  becoming 
credit.  Despite  the  disadvantages  of  his  dress, 
he  resolved  upon  the  course.  The  peculiar 
organization  of  the  Congregational  church  around 
him  favored  the  scheme.  And  if  other  churches, 
more  carefully  guarded,  have  been  often  imposed 
upon  by  the  grossest  pretenders,  it  cannot  be 
matter  of  wonder  if  Burroughs  should  have 
succeeded  in  gaining  a  clerical  repute  in  the 
Congregational  church  of  New  England. 
20 


230  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

The  dSbut  of  the  so-called  Rev.  Mr.  Davis, 

was  made  at  the  town  of  Ludlow,  Massachusetts. 
He  preached  here  but  once,  and  thence,  upon 
recommendation  of  a  clergyman  whom  he  con- 
sulted, he  departed  to  the  primitive  town  of 
Pelham,  in  the  same  State.  In  this  place,  he  met 
with  immediate  employment  in  his  new  vocation. 
For  a  time,  all  went  smoothly.  But,  at  last,  it 
became  matter  of  wonder  how  he  could  always 
be  so  promptly  prepared  with  discourses  as  he 
ever  appeared  to  be,  both  upon  ordinary  and 
extraordinary  occasions.  On  one  of  these  occa- 
sions, when  preaching  in  a  small  room,  his 
"  notes"  were  discovered  to  be  more  ancient 
than  the  years  of  the  preacher  would  seem  to 
warrant.  The  information  spread,  and  dissatis- 
faction prevailed.  He  was  suspected  of  retailing 
to  his  hearers  stolen  treasures.  At  last,  a  plan 
was  devised  which  would  put  Mr.  Davis'  ser- 
monizing abilities  to  an  effectual  test.  It  was 
thought  by  the  jealous  hearers,  that  if  he  could 
preach  during  the  day  from  a  text  which  should 
be  given  him  in  the  morning,  it  would  furnish 
satisfactory  proof  of  his  "powers,"  and  they 
would  then  cease  to  marvel  at  his  being  always 
so  promptly  prepared.  He  was  accordingly 
waited  upon  on  a  certain  Sunday  morning,  and 
desired  to  discourse  from  the  first  clause  of  the 
5th  verse  of  the  9th  chapter  of  Joshua.  It  was 
a  strange  text,  surely,  and  ingeniously  did  Mr 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  231 

Davis  handle  it.  The  people  were  satisfied,  and 
all  went  quietly  again  for  a  time. 

It  would  be  morally  impossible  for  any  man, 
how  unblemished  soever  his  character,  to  main- 
tain himself  long  undiscovered  in  a  situation  like 
that  which  Burroughs  now  held,  especially  so 
when  within  two  hundred  miles  of  his  old  home, 
and  the  scenes  of  so  many  wild  exploits.  Two 
or  three  times  had  his  path  been  crossed  by  un- 
welcome intruders.  At  length,  when  absent  a 
few  miles  distant  from  his  parish,  he  met  a  clergy- 
man, at  the  house  of  a  friend,  who  was  well 
known  to  him.  The  clergyman  called  him  by 
his  true  name.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Davis  corrected 
the  mistake.  But  the  clergyman  would  allow  no 
correction :  he  knew  his  man.  Burroughs  rode 
off  "  highly  indignant,"  and  returned  to  Pelham. 
As  he  rode  on,  he  began  to  concert  measures  to 
meet  the  gathering  storm,  or  rather  to  avoid  it. 
He  knew  the  violent  character  of  the  people 
among  whom  he  was  sojourning  too  well  to  risk 
his  person  among  them  when  his  true  character 
should  become  known.  Although  he  was  in- 
debted to  them  for  one  more  Sunday's  services, 
he  sought  the  house  of  a  friend,  and  there  lay  in 
secure  concealment.  The  result  we  will  give  in 
his  own  words : 

"  The  next  morning,  Mr.  Davis  was  not  to  be 
found.  My  landlord  was  almost  frantic  with  sur- 
prise and  grief.  The  town  was  alarmed,  and  sud- 


232  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

dcnl y  was  all  in  a  flame.  About  11  o'clock,  p.  m. 
a  man  came  from  Belchertown,  with  information 
respecting  the  character  who  had  been  exhibiting 
among  them  as  a  preacher.  This  blew  the  ilame 
into  a  tenfold  rage.  No  pen  can  describe  the  up- 
roar there  was  in  the  town  of  Pelham.  They 
mounted  hue  and  cries  after  me  in  every  direction, 
with  orders  to  spare  not  horse-flesh.  They  per- 
ambulated the  town,  and  anxiously  asked  every 
one  for  some  circumstance  which  would  lead  to  a 
discovery  where  I  was.  All  this  took  place  whilst 
I  lay  snug  in  the  corner,  observing  their  operations. 
In  holding  a  consultation  upon  these  disagreeable 
matters,  every  one  was  anxious  to  clear  himself 
of  being  the  dupe  to  my  artifice,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. '  I  never  liked  him,'  says  one.  '  I  always 
thought  there  was  something  suspicious  about 
him,'  says  another.  '  He  ever  had  a  very  de- 
ceitful look,'  says  a  third.  In  fine,  it  had  come 
to  this,  that  not  one  now  could  discern  any  thing 
which  ever  appeared  good  or  commendable  about 
me,  except  one  good  old  lady,  who  said,  '  Well, 
I  hope  they  will  catch  him,  and  bring  him  back 
among  us,  and  we  will  make  him  a  good  man, 
and  keep  him  for  our  preacher.' 

"  You  may  with  propriety  ask  me,  what  the 

people  of  Pelham  expected  they  could  do,  should 

'they  overtake  me  in  their  pursuit  ?     I  know  the 

question  will  naturally  arise  ;  but  I  cannot  give 

you  an  answer,  for  I  do  not  know  their  intentions 


STEPHEN     BURROUGHS.  233 

or  expectations.  Perhaps  they  thought,  for  they 
were  a  people  very  ignorant,  that  I  had  broken 
the  laws  of  the  land,  to  the  same  amount  as  I  had 
offended  them.  About  12  o'clock  the  night  fol- 
lowing, I  took  my  leave  of  Lysander,  promising  to 
return  and  see  him  again,  as  soon  as  the  tumult 
was  hushed." 

The  discomfited  Mr.  Davis  reached  the  house 
of  his  friend  in  Rutland,  Massachusetts.  But  his 
flight  had  not  been  unperceived.  We  will  allow 
him  again,  however,  to  tell  his  own  story,  as  he 
does  it  with  more  ability  than  we  could  pretend 
to  do. 

"After  I  had  taken  some  refreshment,  and  put 
out  my  horse,  I  went  into  his  counting-room,  to 
have  some  further  conversation  on  the  subject  of 
my  business.  Whilst  I  was  leaning  my  elbow 
out  at  the  window,  I  turned  my  eyes  at  the  sudden 
and  violent  trampling  of  horses,  and  saw  a  large 
number  of  people  from  Pelham  after  me.  Seeing 
so  many,  and  they  riding  with  such  fury,  gave 
me  a  sudden  impulse  of  fear,  and  I  thought  to 
elude  them  by  flight ;  I  therefore  sprang  out  of  my 
chair,  and  ran  across  the  shop,  in  order  to  go  out 
at  the  back  door  ;  but  no  sooner  had  I  arrived 
there,  than  I  was  met  by  one  Konkey,  who  at- 
tempted to  seize  me.  This  aroused  my  indignation, 
and  with  my  walking-staff,  I  gave  him  a  blow 
across  the  right  arm,  which  broke  it.  Having  by 
this  mean  made  myself  a  passage,  I  ran  round  the 
20* 


234  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

end  of  the  shop,  which  I  supposed  would  be  most 
out  of  sight ;  but  when  1  turned  the  corner,  I  met, 
full  in  the  face,  two  of  my  deacons.  I  then  turned 
and  ran  about  twenty  rods,  down  a  small  hill,  and 
the  Pelhamites  all  after  me,  hallooing  with  all  their 
might,  '  Stop  him  !  stop  him  !'  To  be  pursued 
thus  like  a  thief,  an  object  of  universal  speculation 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Rutland,  gave  me  very  dis- 
agreeable sensations  which  I  was  determined  not 
to  bear.  I  therefore  stopped,  took  up  a  stone, 
and  declared  that  the  first  who  should  approach 
me  1  would  kill  on  the  spot.  They  were  very 
credulous  in  stories  of  the  devil,  witches,  &c.  and 
now  thought  the  devil  had  appeared  in  human 
shape,  read}  to  destroy  them.  They  all  stopped  ; 
amazement  being  pictured  on  their  countenances, 
except  one  Hind.  This  man  valued  himself  much 
on  his  dexterity,  and  in  order  to.  shew  his  superior 
ability,  advanced  alone,  till  he  came  within  my 
reach  ;  when,  with  a  single  stroke  of  my  stone,  I 
tumbled  him  to  the  ground,  apparently  a  lifeless 
corpse.  Seeing  a  large  number  of  people  begin- 
ning to  collect  and  come  towards  me,  I  moved 
on  about  two  rods  in  front  of  the  Pelhamites,  and 
they  after  me.  I  told  them  in  the  most  decided 
manner,  that  instant  destruction  should  be  their 
portion,  if  they  attempted  to  approach  any  nearer. 
They  believed,  and  kept  their  distance,  till  coming 
to  a  barn,  which  had  only  one  small  door,  I  went 
in,  determined  to  defend  the  door,  which  I  expected 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  235 

to  be  able  to  do,  on  account  of  its  advantageous 
situation.  After  I  nad  entered  the  barn,  I  found 
there  a  situation,  which  pleased  me  much  better, 
viz.  the  hay-mow,  there  being  only  one  place  by 
which  it  was  possible  to  ascend  it,  therefore  when  I 
was  on  the  top  of  this  hay-mow,  I  could  keep  off 
any  number  of  men  that  should  attack  me.  I  ac- 
cordingly seized  this  stronghold  with  despatch, 
mounted  my  fortress,  and  carried  with  me  a  scythe- 
snath,  as  a  weapon  of  defence  to  keep  off  the  as- 
sailants. When  the  Pelhamites  saw,  through  the 
crannies  of  the  barn,  where  I  had  taken  my  station, 
they  ventured  to  come  in,  together  with  a  number 
of  the  inhabitants." 

"  What  a  situation  for  an  ecclesiastic !"  ex- 
claims the  celebrated  Laurence  Sterne,  when 
describing  a  scene  by  no  means  becoming  such 
a  character.  "What  a  situation  for  an  eccle- 
siastic !"  might  the  redoubtable  Mr.  Davis,  with 
more  truth,  exclaim.  The  Pelhamites  found  that 
though  they  had  "  treed"  their  game,  they  had  by 
no  means  caught  it.  At  this  crisis,  a  citizen  of 
Rutland  came  forward  as  Mr.  Burroughs'  de- 
fender, while  the  Pelharri  question  was  defended 
by  Deacon  McMullen.  After  a  long  discussion, 
it  was  agreed  to  adjourn  to  the  tavern  hard  by, 
and  settle  the  quarrel  amicably  at  the  bar.  This 
was  a  kind  of  satisfaction  which  it  seems  pecu- 
liarly suited  the  perturbed  Pelhamites.  Thither 
all  repaired,  and  matters  were  progressing 


236  STEPHEN    BUEROUGHS. 

toward  a  harmonious  adjustment,  when  the  afore- 
said Hind  came  in,  foaming  with  rage  for  the 
injury  he  had  received  in  the  recent  encounter. 
This  circumstance  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs. 
Some  seemed  bent  on  carrying  Burroughs  forci- 
bly back  to  Pelham.  He  consequently  beat  a 
retreat  to  a  room  above,  and  locked  himself  in. 
They  came  to  his  door,  and,  finding  it  locked, 
sent  for  an  axe,  to  break  it  open.  Hearing  this, 
Burroughs  leaped  from  his  window  upon  a  shed, 
and  from  that  to  the  ground,  in  the  midst  of  the 
very  men  who  were  procuring  the  axe.  He 
says: 

"  Coming  so  suddenly  among  them,  they  had  not 
time  to  recollect  themselves,  so  as  to  know  what 
this  meant,  till  I  had  run  the  distance  of  twenty 
rods,  when  they  started  after  me ;  but  one  of 
their  number  much  exceeded  the  rest  in  swiftness, 
so  that  in  running  sixty  rods,  he  was  twenty  rods 
before  the  others.  By  this  time  I  was  out  of 
breath  by  running,  and  coming  to  a  high  wall, 
made  of  small  stones,  I  jumped  over  it,  and  sat 
down  behind  it  by  a  tree  standing  against  the  wall. 
I  took  a  stone  in  my  hand  as  I  went  over,  intend- 
ing to  knock  down  the  foremost  man  when  he 
came  up  to  me,  which  I  supposed  would  be  easy 
to  do,  as  I  should  take  him  by  surprise,  and  ex- 
ecute my  plan  before  he  could  defend  himself. 
After  this  should  be  performed,  I  could  easily  out- 
run the  rest,  as  I  should  by  this  time  be  rested, 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  237 

and  be  forward  of  them.     An  alder  swamp,  about 
half  a  mile  distant,  was  my  object. 

"  When  the  foremost  man  came  up  to  the  wall, 
I  heard  him  panting  and  puffing  for  breath,  and 
instead  of  being  able  to  leap  over,  he  ran  against 
it,  and  threw  it  down  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
cover  me  almost  entirely  from  sight ;  the  stones 
falling  against  the  tree  in  such  a  manner  as  to  do 
me  no  injury.  The  man  ran  through  the  breach 
of  the  wall,  and  continued  his  course  about  fifteen 
rods  beyond  me,  and  stopped  till  the  others  came 
up,  who  anxiously  inquired  what  had  become  of 
Burroughs  ?  The  others  replied,  that  he  had  run 
like  a  deer  across  the  meadow,  and  gone  into  the 
alder  swamp. 

"  They  concluded  it  was  in  vain  to  follow  me 
— gave  up  the  chase — went  back  to  the  tavern 
• — took  a  little  more  satisfaction,  and  returned  to 
Pelham." 

But  we  have  lingered  quite  too  long  upon 
these  "  scenes."  We  must  despatch  the  remain- 
der with  more  brevity. 

One  would  naturally  suppose  that  his  past 
experience  would  have  satisfied  Burroughs  with 
his  clerical  character.  But  the  fact  was  other- 
wise. He  went  directly  to  Rhode  Island,  and 
there  made  a  short  engagement.  Soon  after,  he 
made  a  visit  to  Pelham  again,  to  see  an  old 
friend,  (as  he  was  on  his  way  to  Danbury, 


938  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

Connecticut,  to  fulfil  a  professional  engagement,) 
and  here 

"  A  change  came  o'er  the  spirit  of  his  dream." 

The  friend  whom  Burroughs  now  visited,  (and 
at  whose  house  he  had  taken  refuge  when  the 
storm  first  arose  at  Pelham,)  had  discovered  a 
"  royal  road  to  wealth,"  as  he  imagined,  by  the 
"  transmuting  of  metals,"  whereby  copper  could 
be  readily  converted  into  silver.  He  was  im- 
posed upon  by  an  artful  knave,  and  effectually 
duped.  As  a  great  favor,  the  friend  had  let 
Burroughs  into  his  secret,  and  the  two,  even  in 
the  palmy  days  of  Mr.  Davis'  clerical  reputation, 
had  planned  a  scheme  for  carrying  on  the  busi- 
ness to  an  extent  which  promised  to  enrich  both 
adventurers.  In  justice  to  both,  let  it  be  said, 
they  were  duped  :  and  silly  as  they  may  appear 
in  their  delusion  now,  were  entirely  honest  in 
their  scheme.  It  was  upon  this  business,  in  part, 
that  Burroughs  now  sought  his  friend.  He 
found  him  crest-fallen.  He  had  discovered  his 
blunder.  The  transmuter  had  fled,  giving  a 
proof  of  his  power  by  a  successful  experiment 
upon  the  coin  of  his  victims  ;  and  with  its  origi- 
nator had  fled  too  all  hope  of  speedy  wealth. 
But  in  place  of  the  exploded  project,  the  friend 
informed  Burroughs  that  he  had  hit  upon  another 
scheme  which  promised  nearly  as  good  success. 
This  was  no  less  than  a  plan  for  counterfeiting 


STEPHEN  BURROUGHS.  239 

silver  dollars.  Burroughs  was  startled  at  the 
plan,  and  opposed  it.  The  friend  was  sanguine, 
and  produced  some  of  the  coin,  the  work 
of  a  notorious  counterfeiter.  Burroughs  argued 
against  the  honesty  of  the  pursuit.  The  friend 
replied,  with  an  argument  which  would  have 
done  credit  to  the  philosophy  of  Paul  Clifford. 
Burroughs  wavered  in  his  moral  firmness.  But 
the  wife  of  his  friend  came  in  to  his  aid,  with 
tears  and  persuasive  entreaties.  At  length  the 
friend  yielded  to  the  argument  of  honesty,  but 
pleaded  necessity  for  disposing  at  Springfield  of  a 
small  quantity  of  the  coin  which  he  had  already 
received,  in  exchange  for  certain  articles  neces- 
sary for  carrying  on  further  operations.  To  this 
he  had  pledged  himself  to  those  associated  with 
him,  and  he  felt  that  he  could  not  in  honor  re- 
tract. Burroughs,  in  the  exigency  of  the  case, 
fearing  the  ruin  of  his  friend  and  his  family,  with 
Quixotic  benevolence  offered  to  undertake  the 
business  and  obtain  the  articles.  He  did  so — 
went  to  Springfield — and  ere  he  could  leave  the 
place,  was  arrested  and  committed  to  prison  for 
"  passing  counterfeit  money." 

The  rash  adventurer  now  experienced  the  dis- 
advantages of  his  former  course.  His  reputation 
had  a  very  unfavorable  effect  upon  the  popular 
mind,  far  from  conciliating  that  good  will  of 
which  he  so  much  stood  in  need.  The  trial 
came  on.  He  was  found  guilty,  and  sentenced 


240  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

to  stand  one  hour  in  the  pillory,  and  remain  three 
years  confined  to  the  House  of  Correction.  As 
the  jail  in  Springfield  was  thought  to  be  too  inse- 
cure for  such  a  prisoner,  he  was  removed  to 
Northampton,  and  consigned  to  his  gloomy  abode. 
He  was  soon  joined  by  companions  in  guilt.  It 
was  not  long  before  the  active  mind  of  the  cap- 
tive was  at  work  to  regain  his  liberty.  But  his 
evil  genius  seemed  to  have  deserted  him.  He 
was  detected,  punished,  and  secured  by  massive 
chains.  The  uncalled  for  harshness  of  his  treat- 
ment drove  him  to  madness,  and  he  attempted  to 
burn  the  jail,  and  perish  amid  the  ruins.  But 
again  he  was  defeated.  The  flames  were  extin- 
guished, and  the  captive  received  for  compensa- 
tion a  most  cruel  flogging,  and,  after  being  hand- 
cuffed and  pinioned,  was  chained  to  the  floor  of 
his  dungeon.  This  was  in  the  dead  of  winter. 
He  was  denied  fire,  and  even  refused  straw  to  lie 
upon.  In  addition  to  this  suffering  without,  the 
fangs  of  hunger  were  gnawing  him  within.  In 
this  situation  he  was  doomed  to  remain  for  a 
number  of  weeks.  He  was  wasted  to  a  mere 
skeleton,  and  at  last  ardently  wished  for  death  to 
terminate  his  excruciating  woes.  At  length, 
when  the  springs  of  life  were  almost  worn  out, 
and  life  itself  was  fast  sinking  to  its  close,  a  kinsman 
visited  him.  He  supplied  him  with  money,  and 
at  sight  of  the  magic  treasure  the  jailor's  wife  be- 
came an  "  angel  of  mercy." 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  241 

It  seemed  to  be  a  matter  of  conscience  with 
Burroughs,  (if  he  had  any  such  thing  as  con- 
science, which  we  doubt,)  not  to  learn  wisdom 
by  experience.  No  sooner  was  he  recovered 
from  his  late  sufferings,  than  he  turned  his  atten- 
tion anew  to  an  escape.  This  he  would  now 
have  effected,  had  there  been  no  unfair  play  with- 
in his  fortress.  But  the  principle  of  "  honor  among 
thieves,"  however  it  may  have  obtained  among 
other  like  communities,  found  no  practical  exem- 
plification in  the  Northampton  jail.  Guarded 
without  and  watched  within,  he  was  circumvent- 
ed in  every  attempt,  and  each  one  only  served  to 
make  his  condition  worse. 

At  length,  all  the  prisoners  who  had  been  sen- 
tenced to  the  House  of  Correction  were  removed 
to  Castle  Island,  then  a  military  station,  in  Boston 
harbor.  The  island  was  well  garrisoned,  and  the 
prisoners  closely  guarded,  but  Burroughs  did  not 
despair  of  escape.  He  alone  of  all  the  prisoners 
was  permitted  to  remain  in  his  "  palace"  during 
the  day,  while  the  others  were  at  their  labor. 
The  time  did  not  pass  unimproved  by  him,  and  it 
was  not  long  before,  on  a  rainy  night,  all  the 
prisoners  sallied  forth,  surprised  the  sentry, 
seized  a  boat,  and  were  off.  Owing  to  the  im- 
prudence, of  some  of  the  company,  all  were  again 
arrested  and  brought  back  to  punishment  and 
servitude. 

It  was  now  thought  best  that  the  rogue  should 
21 


242  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

be  put  to  labor.  This  proved  too  severe  a  task 
upon  his  mental  abilities.  Notwithstanding  his 
ready  wit  at  every  thing  else,  he  could  not  com- 
prehend the  sublime  and  occult  mysteries  of  nail- 
manufacture.  Despite  all  his  efforts,  he  never 
could  construct  more  than  five  perfect  nails  in  a 
day,  and  his  teachers  finally  gave  him  over  as  a 
stupid  pupil.  Yet  once  more  was  his  restless 
mind  active  in  search  of  some  new  method  for 
the  liberation  of  himself  and  his  fellow-prisoners. 
He  was  not  long  in  conceiving  a  plan ;  and  a 
masterly  one  it  was,  which  reflected  credit  upon 
his  wisdom  and  courage.  An  armed  guard 
always  escorted  the  prisoners  at  day-break  to 
their  labor.  The  rest  of  the  soldiers  remained  in 
the  garrison,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  prison. 
The  keeper  was  accustomed  to  give  his  prisoners 
a  call,  some  few  minutes  before  the  time  of  their 
"  turning  out."  The  plan  of  Burroughs,  in  this 
state  of  things,  was  this.  He  divided  the  prison- 
ers into  two  companies,  believing  all  to  possess 
the  courage  which  distinguished  himself.  Of  one 
of  these  bands  he  proposed  to  take  command. 
The  other  he  gave  in  charge  to  one  Phillips,  of 
whose  valor  he  had  a  high  opinion.  It  was  con- 
certed, that  as  soon  as  the  first  call  was  given  in 
the  morning,  and  the  keeper  had  departed,  at  a 
given  signal,  Burroughs,  with  his  party,  would 
surprise  the  guard  in  waiting  for  the  prisoners, 
and  disarm  them  by  superior  numbers,  while 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  243 

Phillips,  with  the  other  party,  should  rush  to  the 
garrison,  and  surprise  it  ere  the  soldiers  were 
well  upon  duty.  These  two  points  effected,  no 
difficulty  would  remain  to  secure  the  cannon,  and 
other  defences,  and  thus  not  only  command  the 
island,  but  the  whole  of  Boston  harbor.  At  the 
time  appointed,  all  were  in  readiness,  and,  at  the 
signal,  Burroughs  rushed  to  the  charge.  He 
surprised  the  sentries,  disarmed  two,  reached  the 
guard-house,  and  ordered  the  soldiers  to  lay  down 
their  arms.  He'  was  obeyed.  But  on  looking 
round  for  his  bold  troops,  not  one  could  be  seen. 
The  cowardly  villains  had  all  deserted  him,  and 
the  other  leader  had  crawled  back  to  his  bed. 
By  this  time  the  alarm  had  been  given,  and  it  is 
not  a  matter  of  marvel  if  the  united  garrison  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing  their  one  assailant.  He  had 
played  a  fearful  game  at  a  desperate  stake,  and 
that  too  with  a  courage  worthy  a  better  cause. 
But  his  game  was  fatal,  and  dire  indeed  was  his 
punishment. 

Burroughs  now  relinquished  all  ideas  of  escape, 
and  offered  to  compromise  with  the  commander, 
promising  to  remain  quiet  if  the  liberties  of  the 
island  might  be  allowed  him.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem — and  it  shows  the  difficult  charge  which 
the  prisoner  had  proved — his  proposal  was  ac- 
ceded to.  Burroughs  was  again  in  partial  comfort, 
and  offered  his  kind  protectors  no  more  annoy- 
ance. The  day  of  liberation  at  last  arrived, 


244  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

and  the  captive  once  more  breathed  the  air  of 
freedom. 

For  two  or  three  years,  Burroughs  conducted 
with  great  propriety.  He  married,  and  saw  a 
family  rising  around  him.  But  he  was  again 
dragged  to  the  bar  of  justice  for  a  crime  of  which 
he  was  in  part  guilty,  if  not  of  the  full  terms  of 
the  indictment.  His  sentence  was  a  severe  one  ; 
and  when  he  had  received  a  part  of  his  punish- 
ment, he  gave  his  friends  "  a  receipt  in  full  of  all 
demands,"  and  disappeared.  Again  he  conducted 
for  a  time,  in  a  State  not  far  distant,  with  credit 
to  himself  and  friends.  But  after  a  very  few 
years  he  removed  to  Canada,  and  from  thence- 
forward, until  near  the  time  of  his  death,  we 
know  his  conduct  only  by  the  voice  of  rumor. 
This  spoke  any  thing  but  creditably  of  him.  He 
was  reported  to  have  been  extensively  engaged 
in  counterfeiting  bills  on  banks  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  have  practised  crime  with  a  high 
hand,  unwhipt  of  justice.  His  memoirs,  written 
by  himself,  have  been  extensively  circulated. 
Edition  after  edition  have  been  published  in  this 
country,  and  one  has  appeared  in  England,  em- 
bellished, we  believe,  by  Cruikshank.  Burroughs 
died  at  a  place  called  "  Three  Rivers,"  in  Lower 
Canada,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1840.  Report 
speaks  of  a  moral  reform  toward  the  close  of  his 
life.  Of  this  we  are  skeptical :  still  we  do  not 


STEPHEN    BURROUGHS.  245 

know  it  to  be  untrue,  and  give  him  the  benefit  of 
the  "  rumor."  He  had  been,  for  some  time  be- 
fore his  death,  we  believe,  engaged  in  his  old 
profession  of  teaching,  and  had  conducted  with 
propriety.  But  what  a  miserable  fragment  this, 
to  offset  against  a  life  of  crime  ! 

The  book  which  Burroughs  has  left  of  his 
course  of  life  can  do  no  hurt — at  least,  to  those 
whose  minds  are  mature,  and  whose  judgments 
are  ripened.  It  may  be  read  with  profit.  We 
can  imagine  no  man,  of  whatever  class,  but  may 
peruse  it  with  advantage.  There  are  things  in  it 
to  laugh  at :  but  one  will  become  serious  ere  its 
close.  He  will  find  it  a  melancholy  guide-book, 
warning  off  from  every  vice  and  crime  with  the 
mournful  exclamation,  "  This  way  danger  lies  /" 

Throughout  his  whole  book,  Burroughs  com- 
plains of  the  prejudice  of  the  community  which 
existed  everywhere  against  him,  from  matters  of 
a  personal  nature.  That  prejudice  now  no  longer 
exists.  Men  can  form  a  true  opinion  of  the 
author  and  actor,  unbiassed  by  popular  prejudice. 
But  the  verdict  which  the  public  will  form  upon 
the  character  of  Burroughs  will  be  a  severe  one. 
To  say  he  has  lived  in  vain,  would  be  too  light 
a  conclusion.  His  boyhood  was  given  to  folly — 
his  manhood  to  crime  !  With  talents  and  advan- 
tages which  might  have  rendered  him  an  orna- 
ment to  society,  he  became  its  disgrace :  with 
31* 


246  STEPHEN    BURROUGHS. 

more  "  appliances  and  means  to  boot,"  than  most 
possess,  to  become  the  benefactor  of  mankind, 
he  proved  their  pest !  And,  in  short,  his  whole 
career  furnishes  a  mournful  proof  of  the  truth  of 
a  celebrated  remark  of  Dr.  Young,  that  "  with 
the  talents  of  an  angel  a  man  may  be  a  fool !" 


247 


JOHN  HELM. 

THE  subject  of  this  sketch,  a  pioneer  of  the  West, 
and  a  soldier  in  the  Indian  wars  growing  out  of 
the  settlement  of  Kentucky,  was  born  on  the  29th 
of  November,  1761,  in  Prince  William  county, 
Virginia.  He  was  the  eldest  child  of  Thomas 
Helm,  who  landed  with  his  family  at  the  Falls  of 
the  Ohio,  now  Louisville,  in  March,  1780.  To- 
wards the  close  of  the  year  he  looked  out  for  a 
new  location,  and  commenced  a  settlement  near 
where  Elizabethtown  now  stands.  Early  in  the 
following  year  he  removed  his  whole  family  to 
that  place,  and  built  what  was  called  a  fort,  where 
he  continued  to  reside  until  he  died,  at  an  ad- 
vanced age. 

JOHN  HELM  came  to  Kentucky  in  the  fall  be- 
fore his  father,  when  about  19  years  of  age.  For 
those  times  he  was  well  educated  for  a  practical 
surveyor.  He  was  of  small  stature,  and  not  re- 
markable for  either  strength  or  activity,  the  qual- 
ities that  most  adorned  the  forest  gentlemen  of 
that  clay;  but,  possessing  a  firm,  good  constitution, 
with  great  steadiness  of  purpose  and  habits,  he 
was  enabled  to  perform  the  most  astonishing  la- 
bor, and  to  endure  the  greatest  sufferings.  The 


248  JOHN    HELM. 

qualities  of  his  mind  were  well  suited  to  his  busi- 
ness, possessing  in  a  superior  degree  a  sound  and 
discriminating  judgment,  united  with  patient  and 
untiring  investigation  and  personal  bravery.  On 
reaching  Kentucky,  he  immediately  commenced 
the  dangerous  occupation  of  locating  and  survey- 
ing land,  for  which  he  had  been  educated. 

His  first  trip  was,  perhaps,  his  most  unfortu- 
nate ;  having  formed  the  usual  company  for  sur- 
veyors in  those  times,  he  commenced  operations 
not  fur  from  Salt  river,  accompanied  by  William 
Johnson,  the  father  of  Dr.  Johnson,  of  Louisville, 
for  whom  he  was  then  surveying.  A  company 
of  Indians  having  discovered  them,  and  knowing 
their  business,  waylaid  them  while  they  were 
engaged  in  the  active  employment  of  running  a 
line.  The  Indians,  squatting  in  the  small  cane 
through  which  they  had  to  pass,  as  they  came  up, 
fired,  and  rising  at  the  same  moment,  rushed 
upon  them  with  their  usual  terrific  yell.  Mr. 
Helm  being  a  little  in  advance,  was  in  the  midst 
of  the  Indians  at  the  moment  of  the  attack. 
The  Indians,  considering  him  as  their  captive, 
turned  their  attention  to  those  in  the  rear.  He 
used  the  fortunate  moment,  and  passing  through 
them  made  his  escape — the  others  were  killed  or 
taken  prisoners*  Among  the  latter  was  William 
Johnson ;  and  Mr.  Helm  alone  returned  to  tell 
the  sad  news  that  all  was  lost. 

In  1791,  he  went  out  on  St.  Glair's  campaign 


JOHN    HELM.  249 

as  a  common  soldier,  but  his  capacity  for  business 
and  superior  education  were  qualities  more  un- 
common in  those  days  than  at  present,  and  could 
not  be  long  overlooked.  He  performed  all,  or 
nearly  all,  the  duties  appertaining  to  the  staff  offi- 
cers in  Col.  Oldham's  regiment  of  Kentucky  mili- 
tia, which  formed  one  division  of  St.  Glair's 
army.  The  regular  troops  formed  the  other 
division. 

Both  Col.  Oldham  and  Mr.  Helm  were  greatly 
dissatisfied  with  St.  Glair's  disposition  of  the 
army  the  night  before  the  fatal  battle,  and  ear- 
nestly remonstrated  with  him,  but  to  no  purpose. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  action,  Col.  Oldham 
was  killed  and  his  division  routed.  While  en- 
gaged in  preparing  for  a  retreat,  Mr.  Helm  was 
severely  wounded,  and  his  efforts  wholly  frus- 
trated. 

Seeing  death  or  escape  the  only  alternative, 
and  being  surrounded  by  the  enemy  on  every  side, 
Major  P.  Brown,  Captain  John  Thomas,  (since 
General  Thomas,)  Stephen  Cleaver,  (since  Gene- 
ral Cleaver,)  Mr.  Helm,  and  a  few  others,  con- 
cluded to  make  a  last  desperate  attempt  and  open 
a  passage  through  the  Indian  lines,  the  only  possi- 
ble way  by  which  to  retreat.  The  Indians  were 
doubly  prepared,  having  twice  resisted  a  charge 
made  by  a  division  of  the  regular  army  ;  but 
those  men  thought  it  was  but  death  at  the  worst, 
and  they  would  make  a  trial  for  life.  Their 


250  JOHN    HELM. 

plans  being  settled,  they  called  long  and  loud  to 
the  Kentuckians  to  come  and  go  home,  and  with 
a  desperate  shout  charged  upon  the  Indians  with- 
out firing  a  gun.  The  Indians  for  a  moment 
seemed  to  be  panic-struck,  and  yielded  to  them 
to  pass,  while  the  whole  army,  as  if  by  one  im- 
pulse, followed  after. 

Mr.  Helm,  with  the  true  feelings  and  spirit  of 
a  backwoodsman,  clung  to  his  rifle,  that  treasure 
to  be  parted  with  only  in  death — his  arm  bone 
broken  and  shattered,  as  before  mentioned — and 
carried  his  rifle,  and  run  and  marched  with  the 
army,  upwards  of  thirty  miles  that  day. 

The  sufferings  from  such  a  wound  would  have 
been  great  under  the  most  favorable  circumstan- 
ces and  best  treatment,  but  awful  indeed  must 
they  have  been  in  a  wilderness,  with  such  treat- 
ment and  accommodations  as  could  be  given  in  a 
retreating  and  defeated  army ;  yet,  after  months 
of  suffering,  he  returned  to  his  family,  and  was 
restored  to  health.  This  closed  his  Indian  fight- 
ing, and  he  again  resumed  his  occupation  of  sur- 
veyor. The  Indians  were  no  longer  a  dread  and 
terror.  The  balance  of  his  life  was  spent  in  ac- 
tive and  useful  labor,  mostly  as  a  surveyor.  He 
acted  as  county  surveyor  in  Washington  county 
many  years,  and  also,  at  the  same  time,  as  one  of 
the  associate  judges,  under  the  old  system,  and  was 
a  neat  and  thrifty  farmer.  He  had  no  political 
ambition ;  although  often  urged,  he  was  never  a 


JOHN    HELM.  251 

candidate  for  any  office  before  the  people.  He 
accumulated  a  considerable  fortune,  considering 
the  theatre  upon  which  he  acted  and  the  country 
in  which  he  lived ;  yet  few  men  ever  came  as 
near  living  and  dying  without  an  enemy  as  he 
did.  Seven  years  before  his  death,  he  joined  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  having  previously 
professed  religion  ;  and  died  at  his  residence  in 
Elizabethtown,  in  a  full  assurance  of  a  blissful 
eternity,  on  Friday,  the  3d  day  of  April,  1840, 
having  lived  51  years,  the  husband  of  one  wife, 
and  leaving  five  children,  and  a  numerous  family 
of  grand-children. 


252 


GENERAL  ADAIR. 

Few  men  have  rendered  more  important  mili- 
tary service  to  the  southern  and  north-western 
frontiers,  or  been  more  highly  esteemed  by  those 
among  whom  their  lot  was  cast,  as  soldiers  and 
patriots,  than  JOHN  ADAIR.  He  was  a  native  of 
Chester  county,  in  South  Carolina ;  and  in  early 
life  distinguished  himself  in  our  Revolutionary 
struggle,  then  just  commenced,  by  the  ardor  and 
activity  with  which  he  espoused  the  cause  of  his 
country,  and  by  the  military  genius  which  he 
displayed  in  the  direction  of  the  detachment 
under  his  command.  In  1787  he  emigrated  to 
Kentucky,  at  that  time  the  fruitful  field  of  high 
and  daring  enterprize.  He  at  once  entered  into 
the  contest  with  his  characteristic  vigor,  and 
participated  largely  in  the  border  warfare  which 
was  then  furiously  and  destructively  waged,  and 
which  was  successfully  closed  in  1794.  In  the 
attack  on  Fort  Recovery,  in  which  action  Go- 
vernor Madison  and  Colonel  Richard  Taylor  of 
Kentucky  were  severely  wounded,  he  com- 
manded, as  Major,  a  detachment  of  Kentucky 
troops. 

At  the  close  of  the  Indian  warfare,  he  repre- 


GENERAL    ADAIR.  253 

sented  for  several  years  the  county  of  Mercer, 
in  the  Legislature,  of  the  State*  was  afterwards 
speaker  thereof,  and  in  1799  was  a  member  of 
the  convention  which  framed  the  present  consti- 
tution of  Kentucky.  He  afterwards  held  the 
station  of  register  in  the  Land  Office,  and  was 
subsequently  elected  Senator  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States.  About  this  period,  his  opin- 
ions and  conduct  were  the  subject  of  much  at- 
tention, and  of  no  little  vituperation,  in  connexion 
with  the  mysterious  designs  of  Colonel  Burr  ; 
but  it  is  now  very  well  understood  that  General 
Adair's  course  in  this  affair  was  very  much  mis- 
represented, and  was  predicated  wholly  upon 
the  belief  that  Burr's  movements  and  plans  were 
known  and  approved  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  which,  he  believed,  seriously  con- 
templated a  war  with  Spain. 

At  this  period  of  our  political  history,  General 
Adair  acted  entirely  with  the  federalists,  being 
led  into  this  connexion  both  by  his  calm  con- 
victions of  the  correctness  of  their  opinions,  and 
by  his  intimate  association  with  the  leading  men 
of  that  party.  At  the  same  time,  his  adherence 
to  those  opposed  to  the  war  of  1812  was  entirely 
subservient  to  the  duty  which  he  owed  his 
country,  as  was  sufficiently  evinced  by  the 
readiness  with  which  he  accompanied  Governor 
Shelby  and  General  Harrison  into  Canada  in  the 
fall  of  1813,  and  by  the  good  conduct  which  he 
22 


254  GENERAL    ADAIB. 

displayed  in  that  campaign.  He  bore  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  glorious  achievements  at  New 
Orleans,  and  was,  in  consequence,  promoted  by 
Governor  Shelby,  and  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
brave  Kentucky  troops.  His  acrimonious  con- 
troversy with  General  Jackson,  growing  out  of 
the  imputation  cast  by  the  latter  upon  the  chival- 
rous Kentuckians  under  his  command,  resulted 
in  his  election  as  Governor  of  the  State,  whose 
fame  he  had  so  vigorously  and  triumphantly 
defended.  In  1831,  at  the  advanced  age  of  72, 
he  was  elected  a  representative  in  Congress, 
which  was  the  closing  theatre  of  his  political 
life.  In  all  his  various  political  offices  he  was 
the  invariable  and  inflexible  friend  of  popular 
rights,  and  his  best  eulogy  is  to  be  found  in  the 
deep  and  unaffected  sorrow  which  followed  him 
to  the  tomb.  He  died  May  19,  1840,  "  full  of 
years  and  full  of  honors." 


255 


JOHN  LOWELL,  LL.  D. 

THIS  exemplary  philanthropist  was  born  at  New- 
buryport,  in  Massachusetts,  October  6th,  1769, 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1786, 
and  practised  law  with  distinguished  success  until 
the  year  1803.  He  then  left  the  bar,  and  soon 
visited  Europe  for  the  improvement  of  his  health, 
which  had  been  much  impaired  by  his  arduous 
professional  labors.  Upon  his  return  he  gave  his 
time  and  attention  to  the  use  of  the  public  in  va- 
rious ways.  The  time  in  which  he  lived  was  a 
period  of  great  political  excitement;  and  he 
mingled  in  its  strife  with  great  ability  and  effi- 
ciency. He  was  a  consistent  and  zealous  sup- 
porter of  the  principles  of  Hamilton  and  Ames, 
and,  throughout  his  whole  political  career,  steadi- 
ly refused  to  accept  office,  or  in  any  way  to  re- 
ceive a  reward  for  his  exertions.  From  1810  to 
1822  he  was  regarded  as  the  leading  member  of 
the  corporation  of  Harvard  University,  and  was 
one  of  the  projectors  and  founders  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts General  Hospital,  the  Boston  Athenaeum, 
the  Savings  Bank,  and  the  Hospital  Life  Insurance 
Company.  For  many  years  he  was  also  the 
president  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Soci- 


256  JOHN    LOWELL,    LL.  D. 

ety ;  and  throughout  the  latter  portion  of  his  life, 
he  devoted  nearly  all  his  time  to  the  study  and 
pursuits  of  horticulture  in  its  various  branches. 

Mr.  LOWELL  was  distinguished  for  his  gene- 
rosity, his  public  spirit,  his  private  charities,  and 
the  hearty,  zealous  earnestness  with  which  he  en- 
tered upon  every  undertaking  that  engaged  his 
attention.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  truths 
of  Christianity,  an  unmerciful  opponent  of  all  dis- 
simulation and  hypocrisy,  and  a  man  of  singular 
uprightness  and  integrity.  He  died  March  12, 
1840,  of  apoplexy,  at  Boston,  in  the  71st  year  of 
his  age. 


257 


GILBERT   STUART  NEWTON. 


BT   J.    KENRICK   FISHER. 


THIS  talented  painter  was  born  in  Halifax,  Nova 
Scotia,  September,  1795.  His  parents,  previous- 
ly to  the  Revolution,  resided  in  Boston ;  but  re- 
moved thence  when  the  republican  army  obtained 
possession  of  that  town,  and  retired  to  the  pro- 
vince above  named,  where  his  father  held  a  post 
in  the  British  army.  In  1803,  Mrs.  Newton,  then 
a  widow,  returned  to  her  friends  in  Boston,  bring- 
ing her  children  with  her ;  and  it  appears  that 
young  Newton  continued  to  reside  there  until  he 
was  about  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

His  relatives  intended  that  he  should  become  a 
merchant,  and  placed  him  in  a  counting-house  : 
but  he  manifested  a  talent  for  drawing  and  paint- 
ing, and  attracted  notice  by  sketching  likenesses 
of  his  friends ;  and  so  much  of  his  time  was  spent 
in  this  way,  that  it  soon  became  apparent  that  he 
would  not  apply  himself  to  mercantile  pursuits ; 
and  his  friends,  judging  favorably  of  his  promise 
as  an  artist,  determined  to  indulge  his  inclination. 
•  It  appears  that  he  received  some  instruction  from 
his  uncle,  Gilbert  Stuart,  after  whom  he  was 
named ;  and  the  works  of  that  great  artist  cer- 
22* 


GILBERT    STUART    NEWTON. 

tainly  had  much  influence  in  forming  his  style ; 
but,  owing  to  his  propensity  for  disputing,  and  to 
the  high  opinion  of  his  own  abilities,  which  the 
praise  he  received  had  tempted  him  to  indulge, 
he  frequently  provoked  his  uncle,  who  rebuked 
him  so  harshly  that  a  coldness  grew  up  between 
them,  which  continued  until  Newton  went  to  Italy, 
in  1816,  after  which  time  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  opportunity  for  a  reconciliation.  I  have 
heard  many  extravagant  stories  about  this  unhap- 
py difference, — some  ascribing  it  to  the  uncle's 
jealousy  of  his  nephew's  talents,  others  to  the 
nephew's  conceit  and  insolence ;  but  the  peculiar 
dispositions  of  both  were  such  that,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  they  hardly  could  have 
got  along  without  more  wrangling  than  is  consis- 
tent with  the  safety  of  friendly  feelings  :  the  one, 
confident  of  his  extraordinary  attainments,  and 
ardent  in  his  temperament,  could  not  easily  endure 
contradiction  from  a  boy ;  the  other,  noted 
through  life  for  defending  his  own  opinions,  right 
or  wrong,  with  all  the  ingenuity  he  could  muster, 
and  elated  by  the  general  praise  he  had  received, 
was  not  likely  to  pay  such  homage  as  was  really 
due. 

Newton  remained  in  Italy  about  a  year.  He 
readily  perceived  that  the  living  artists  of  that 
country  could  afford  him  no  useful  instruction  ; 
and,  in  1817,  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  first  met 
Charles  Robert  Leslie,  with  whom  he  formed  a 


GILBERT    STUART    NEWTON.  259 

friendship  which  soon  became  intimate,  and  con- 
tinued until  Newton's  death.  His  proficiency  at 
this  time  was  very  moderate,  as  I  have  been  told 
by  Leslie  ;  in  fact,  the  first  picture  he  painted  in 
England  was  so  deficient  in  drawirig,  and  in  other 
respects,  that  Leslie  advised  him  not  to  exhibit  it. 
But  he  did  not  follow  the  advice ;  and  it  was  for- 
tunate for  him  that  he  did  not,  for  there  was 
something  in  the  coloring,  and  in  the  humor  of 
treatment,  which  attracted  considerable  notice, 
and  caused  it  to  be  immediately  sold.  He  was 
ever  after  successful  in  pleasing  the  public  ;  but 
he  continued  to  neglect  drawing,  and  on  that  ac- 
count did  not  so  much  rise  in  the  estimation  of 
the  artists,  who  were  bent  on  discountenancing 
the  prevalent  vice  of  their  school,  the  excessive 
devotion  to  color,  which  he  evinced  in  a  degree 
that  was  extraordinary  even  among  themselves. 
This  neglect  has  been  ascribed  to  indolence  ;  but 
I  believe  he  was  not  without  great  industry  and 
perseverance  in  the  pursuit  of  his  favorite  excel- 
lence ;  and  I  therefore  ascribe  it  to  the  predomi- 
nance of  his  feeling  for  color,  for  which  he  was 
always  noted.  £eslie  says  his  eye  was  so  exqui- 
site that  he"  could  not  touch  his  canvas  without 
producing  harmony,  and  that  he  never  did  any- 
thing disagreeable  to  the  eye,  however  defective 
it  might  be  in  shape.  Besides  this  extraordinary 
perception  of  the  beautiful  in  color,  he  had  a  fine 
feeling  for  humor  of  the  most  refined  sort,  and 


260  GILBERT    STUART    NEWTON. 

also  for  the  pathetic  ;  and  with  these  qualities,  in 
spite  of  his  neglect  of  academic  discipline,  he 
made  his  way  to  the  feelings  of  all. 

In  1828,  if  I  remember  rightly,  he  was  made 
an  associate  of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  in  1832, 
a  Royal  Academician.  It  would  not  become  me, 
if  it  were  not  far  from  my  disposition,  to  speak 
disrespectfully  of  the  talented  and  liberal  men 
who  are  members  of  that  academy  ;  but  I  may 
be  allowed  to  say,  that  I  never  could  account  for 
their  tardiness  in  electing  Newton,  on  any  other 
ground  than  that  which  I  before  assigned,  name- 
ly, their  severe  opposition  to  the  undue  ascenden- 
cy of  color.  His  pictures  had  merits  of  the 
highest  order,  more  than  could  be  equalled  by  the 
correctness  of  several  who  were  preferred  before 
him  ;  and  though  I  am  deeply  sensible  that  their 
severity  was  needed  by  the  students,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve it  was  wise  or  just  to  withhold  the  honors 
of  the  academy  from  him  so  long  as  they  did. 

In  1832  Mr.  Newton  returned  to  this  country, 
on  a  visit  to  his  friends,  and  remained  about  a 
year ;  during  which  time  he  painted  a  few  small 
pictures,  chiefly  portraits.  He  married  a  Miss 
Sumner,  of  Boston,  and  shortly  %fter  returned  to 
London.  His  happiness  was  soon  terminated  by 
the  greatest  calamity  that  can  befall  an  intelligent 
being,  a  loss  of  reason.  It  is  said  the  disorder 
vras  hereditary.  His  friends  judged  it  for  his 
comfort  and  advantage  to  place  him  in  a  private 


GILBERT    STUART    NEWTON.  261 

asylum,  where  he  could  receive  the  best  possible 
care  and  treatment ;  but  they  were  not  long  per- 
mitted to  indulge  the  hope  of  his  recovery.  His 
devoted  friend,  Leslie,  often  visited  him,  and  ex- 
erted himself  with  some  success  to  alleviate  his 
condition,  by  aiding  in  his  amusements,  which  he 
describes  as  being  all  of  an  elegant  kind,  the  chief 
of  which  was  his  favorite  art.  Some  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  his  pencil,  even  in  this  condition,  are 
said  to  have  been  excellent. 

As  there  was  no  hope  of  his  recovery,  the  pa- 
rents of  Mrs.  Newton  thought  it  advisable  that 
she  should  return  to  them,  and  sent  for  her. 
Newton  lingered  somewhat  more  than  a  year, 
when  his  disorder  terminated  in  death.  A  short 
time  before  his  decease,  his  consciousness  returned 
to  him.  He  inquired  for  his  wife ;  but  she  had 
gone.  His  last  moments  are  said  to  have  been 
deeply  affecting. 

Such  was  the  end  of  a  most  gifted  artist,  in 
the  prime  of  life,  and  the  full  enjoyment  of  fame, 
fortune,  and  domestic  happiness.  He  is  lamented 
by  many  of  the  most  talented  men  in  England, 
whose  friendship  he  had  long  enjoyed,  and  who 
esteemed  him  for  his  amiable  feelings  and  social 
qualities,  as  well  as  for  his  professional  abilities. 

It  is  important  that  the  character  and  habits  of 
a  man  of  genius  should  be  known ;  because  such 
knowledge  is  often  of  service  to  the  philosophy 
of  mind.  Therefore,  in  writing  this  sketch,  I  feel 


262  GILBERT    8TUABT    NBWTON. 

bound  to  state  what  I  know,  either  of  the  talents, 
the  virtues,  or  the  foibles  of  Mr.  Newton.  Among 
the  latter  was  a  singular  unwillingness  to  ac- 
knowledge himself  in  the  wrong  in  any  disposi- 
tion he  had  made  in  a  picture :  he  would  defend 
every  thing  so  long  as  he  could,  and  when  argu- 
ments were  failing,  he  would  attack  his  opponent 
on  some  point  or  other,  to  avoid  being  driven  to  any 
conclusion,  and  sometimes  become  excited  and 
sarcastic  ;  but  the  next  day  the  objectionable  part 
would  be  found  altered.  It  is  said  that  he  some- 
times was  displeasing  in  his  manners ;  he  has 
even  been  abused  on  this  account :  but,  the  gene- 
ral esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  his  intimacy 
with  many  of  the  nobility,  and  of  the  most  emi- 
nent men,  sufficiently  refute  the  charges  that  have 
been  sometimes  made  against  his  character  as  a 
gentleman.  It  appears  that  he  was  nervous  and 
excitable,  easily  provoked,  although  generally 
good-natured  ;  and  that  he  had  not  the  faculty  to 
shuffle  off  a  boor  without  offending  him.  He 
used  to  be  annoyed  by  Americans,  who  were 
anxious  to  make  his  acquaintance ;  but  his  time 
was  so  taken  up  with  more  important  company, 
that  he  did  not  care  to  devote  much  of  it  to  them, 
unless  they  happened  to  please  him :  and  the 
claim  to  his  attention,  on  the  score  of  nationality, 
was  sure  to  nettle  him,  as  he  did  not  consider 
himself  an  American,  and  had  been  often  abused 
as  a  renegade. 


GILBERT    STUART    NEWTON.  263 

Dunlap,  in  his  history  of  the  arts  in  America, 
mentions  that  Newton,  at  a  dinner  in  New  York, 
declared  himself  a  subject  of  Great  Britain,  and  takes 
the  occasion  to  say  that  such  conduct  diminished 
his  respect  for  him  as  a  man.  It  is  true,  however, 
that  he  was  a  British  subject,  born  in  a  British  pro- 
vince, the  son  of  a  loyalist  who  fled  from  this  coun- 
try at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution ;  and  if 
he  preferred  the  society  and  institutions  of  England 
to  ours,  he  had  as  much  right  to  do  so  as  any  man 
has  to  make  a  similar  choice  in  religion  or  poli- 
tics :  indeed,  we  could  not,  consistently  with  the 
principles  of  freedom  which  we  proclaim,  deny 
to  one  of  our  native  citizens  the  right  to  transfer 
his  allegiance  to  any  foreign  government  he 
might  choose  ;  and  to  censure  Newton  on  this 
account  evinces  more  discourtesy  than  justice. 
Mr.  Dunlap  also  says  that  Newton,  when  last  in 
this  country,  spoke  disrespectfully  of  his  uncle,  as 
he  did  of  American  artists  generally.  If  he  had 
told  us  whether  the  remarks  applied  to  his  uncle's 
character  as  a  man,  his  ability  in  portraiture,  or 
his  talent  for  coloring  and  imitation,  I  should  know 
what  to  make  of  the  charge  ;  but  since  he  has 
not  been  thus  particular,  I  can  only  presume  that 
he  spoke  unfavorably  of  the  coloring  of  Mr.  Stu- 
art's pictures,  which,  if  compared  with  the  works 
Newton  had  been  so  long  familiar  with,  could 
not  admit  of  such  commendation  as  had  usual- 
ly been  awarded  to  them.  As  to  his  remarks 


264  GILBERT    STUART    NEWTON. 

on  American  artists  generally,  I  do  not  know 
what  they  may  be ;  but  I  believe  him  to  have 
been  a  competent  judge,  and  a  man  of  honor,  and 
that  therefore  his  opinions  are  entitled  to  respect, 
even  if  they  do  not  accord  with  those  we  have 
been  accustomed  to  hear. 

Mr.  Dunlap  also  mentions,  as  an  instance  of 
the  difficulty  of  pleasing  him,  that  a  gentleman 
of  this  city  shewed  him  his  collection  of  pic- 
tures, and  not  receiving  any  compliments  on 
account  of  them,  said,  "  At  least,  you  will  al- 
low that  they  are  tolerable."  "  Tolerable !"  said 
Newton,  "  yes ;  but  would  you  eat  a  tolerable 
egg  ?"  Such  replies  are  likely  to  provoke  men 
who  believe  their  favorite  pictures  worthy  of  the 
commendations  bestowed  on  them  by  those  who 
drink  their  wine  ;  and  an  artist  of  Newton's  re- 
fined taste  and  sensitiveness  would  hardly  fail  to 
bring  on  himself,  from  some  quarter  or  other,  the 
charge  of  "  pertness,  approaching  to  puppyism," 
which  Mr.  Dunlap  has  been  pleased  to  record. 
On  the  whole,  these  disparaging  remarks  on  New- 
ton's politics,  manners  and  opinions,  appear  to 
have  no  probable  foundation  ;  they  are  contradic- 
tory to  his  general  character,  and  seem  generally 
to  have  been  made  in  resentment  of  some  dissat- 
isfaction for  which  he  ought  not  to  have  been 
held  accountable.  I  am  particular  in  noticing 
them,  because  I  wish  to  remove,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, the  prevalent  notion  that  a  great  artist  may 


GILBERT   STUART    NEWTON.  265 

be  a  mean  and  ill-bred  man.  If  a  few  instances 
have  occurred  in  which  he  wounded  the  feelings 
of  any  gentlemen,  they  may  fairly  be  attributed 
to  his  nervous  temperament,  and  the  uneasiness 
he  constantly  felt  on  account  of  his  inability  to 
speak  in  a  satisfactory  manner  of  the  "  widely  re- 
ceived opinions,"  the  political  institutions,  and  the 
works  of  art,  which  were  held  up  for  his  admira- 
tion. It  may,  moreover,  be  observed,  that  the 
nervous  disorder,  which  terminated  in  insanity, 
was  making  its  slow  approaches  while  he  was  in 
this  country.  I  have  been  informed  that  he  fre- 
quently got  up  at  midnight,  to  scrape  out  some 
part  of  his  picture  which  he  was  not  satisfied 
with,  and  which  would  not  allow  him  to  sleep  un- 
til he  had  erased  it.  In  such  a  condition  he  could 
not  have  been  so  much  at  ease  as  might  be  desir- 
able, or  feel  such  pleasure  as  he  otherwise  would 
in  the  various  companies  in  which  he  found 
himself. 


23 


266 


THE  LATE  SAMUEL  WARD. 

BY   CHARLES   KING. 

THE  record  of  a  good  man's  life,  while  it  soothes 
the  affections  of  all  who  loved  and  survive  him, 
has  the  higher  merit  of  encouraging  the  struggles 
and  sustaining  the  virtue  of  those  who,  entering 
upon  life  with  no  other  reliance  than  their  own 
strong  arms  and  resolute  hearts,  and  honest  prin- 
ciples, are  cheered  on  their  way  by  the  example 
of  success  achieved  and  high  character  establish- 
ed, under  like  circumstances,  by  others. 

It  is  a  brief  record  of  this  sort,  and  not  a  eulo- 
gy, that  is  here  attempted  of  the  late  SAMUEL 
WARD.  The  pompous  funeral  orations  which  com- 
memorate the  death  of  the  great  ones  of  the  earth, 
too  often,  by  the  very  exaggeration  of  their  praise, 
mark  a  painful  contrast  between  the  actions  of 
the  man,  and  the  votive  offerings  that  decorate  his 
tomb.  The  reader,  while  his  taste  is  gratified  by 
splendid  perorations  and  his  imagination  is  excited 
by  brilliantly  drawn  pictures,  yet  feels  his  moral 
sense  shocked  at  the  discovery,  that  flattery  stops 
not  even  at  the  grave  ;  and  although  it  cannot 
"  soothe  the  dull,  cold  ear  of  death,"  that  it  yet 


SAMUEL    WAHD.  267 

finds  profit  in  ministering  to  the  vanity  of  the 
living. 

Ours  is  a  humbler  and  more  honest  task — that 
of  satisfying  the  feelings  of  private  friendship, 
•while  we  adhere  to  the  impartiality  of  unadorned 
narrative. 

Mr.  Ward  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
sprang  from  a  race  illustrious  in  the  annals  of 
that  renowned  commonwealth.  The  founder  of 
the  family,  Thomas  Ward,  of  Gloucester,  England, 
was  a  soldier  in  the  armies  of  Cromwell,  who, 
after  the  accession  of  Charles  II.  in  1660,  retired 
to  this  country  and  settled  at  Newport,  Rhode 
Island.  He  married  Amey  Smith,  a  grand- 
daughter of  Roger  Williams,  and  left  an  only  son, 
Richard,  who  was  subsequently  Governor  of 
Rhode  Island.  His  sons,  Thomas  and  Henry, 
were  successively  Secretaries  of  the  plantation 
for  half  a  century,  and  his  son  Samuel  was  Go- 
rernor  thereof  for  several  years.  Samuel  was 
also  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  from 
1774  to  March  1776,  when  he  died  at  Philadel- 
phia. Of  this  gentleman,  old  John  Adams,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  same  Congress,  thus  wrote :  "  He  was 
a  gentleman  in  his  manners,  benevolent  and  amia- 
ble in  his  disposition,  and  as  decided,  ardent  and 
uniform  in  his  patriotism  as  any  member  of  that 
Congress.  When  he  was  seized  with  the  small 
pox,  he  said,  that  if  his  vote  and  voice  were  ne- 
cessary to  support  the  cause  of  his  country,  he 


268  SAMUEL    WARD. 

should  live ;  if  not,  he  should  die."  He  died,  and 
the  cause  of  his  country  was  supported,  but  it 
lost  one  of  its  most  sincere  and  punctual  advo- 
cates. He  was  an  ingenious  man  and  well  in- 
formed." 

Samuel,  the  son  of  this  gentleman,  and  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  our  notice,  early  took  part  with 
his  country  against  the  oppression  of  England. 
At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  war 
he  commanded  a  company,  and  was  one  of  those 
who  made  the  perilous  march  with  Arnold 
through  the  unbroken  forests  of  New  England  to 
Quebec.  He  was  subsequently  a  lieutenant  colo- 
nel in  the  Rhode  Island  line,  and  served  with  dis- 
tinction throughout  the  war.  He  was  a  gentleman 
and  a  scholar,  and  passed  through  a  long  life  with 
unblemished  reputation. 

Samuel  Ward,  his  son,  was  born  1st  May, 
1786,  soon  after  which  the  family,  in  1790,  re- 
moved to  this  city.  A  narrow  income  and  a  large 
family  prevented  the  father  from  gratifying  the 
wish  early  expressed  by  his  son  for  a  collegiate 
education  ;  and  therefore,  at  the  age  of  14,  having 
received  only  the  ordinary  instruction  of  an  Eng- 
lish school,  he  entered  as  a  clerk  in  that  banking- 
house  of  which  he  eventually  became  the  head. 
In  1808,  at  the  age  of  22,  he  was  taken  into  part- 
nership by  Mr.  Prime;  and  from  that  time  till  the 
period  of  his  death,  he  continued  an  active  and 
influential  man  of  business. 


SAMUEL    WARD.  269 

Money  was  the  commodity  in  which  Mr.  Ward 
dealt,  and  if,  as  is  hardly  to  be  disputed,  money 
be  the  root  of  all  evil,  it  is  also,  in  hands  that 
know  how  to  use  it  worthily,  the  instrument  of 
much  good.  There  exists  undoubtedly,  in  re- 
gard to  the  trade  in  money,  and  respecting  those 
engaged  in  it,  many  and  absurd  prejudices,  inhe- 
rited in  part  from  ancient  error,  and  fomented 
and  kept  alive  by  the  jealousies  of  ignorance  and 
indigence.  It  is  therefore  no  small  triumph  to 
have  lived  down,  as  Mr.  Ward  did,  this  prejudice, 
and  to  have  forced  upon  the  community  in  the 
midst  of  which  he  resided,  and  upon  all  brought 
into  connexion  with  him,  the  conviction  that  com- 
merce in  money,  like  commerce  in  general,  is,  to  a 
lofty  spirit,  lofty  and  ennobling,  and  is  valued 
more  for  the  power  it  confers,  of  promoting  libe- 
ral and  beneficent  enterprizes,  and  of  conducing 
to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  society,  than 
for  the  means  of  individual  and  selfish  gratifica- 
tion or  indulgence. 

The  incidents  of  such  a  career  as  that  of  Mr. 
Ward  are  necessarily  few,  and  as  he  was  of  re- 
markably unobtrusive  disposition,  though  of  great 
firmness  of  purpose  and  well-settled  notions  of 
duty,  the  impress  of  his  character  upon  those 
around  and  in  contact  with  him,  though  sure  and 
salutary,  was  yet  silent  and  gradual. 

Mr.  Ward  was    married    to  Miss  Cutler,  in 
October,  1812, — a  lady  of  great  beauty  and  fine 
23* 


270  SAMUEL   WARD. 

understanding.  The  years  of  his  married  life, 
though  few  and  fleeting,  were  bright  and  joyous. 
A  liberal  and  elegant  hospitality  presided  over 
his  household,  while  the  domestic  hearth  was 
gladdened  with  the  merry  voices  of  the  children 
of  their  marriage. 

In  the  year  1824,  death  took  from  him  the 
wife  of  his  affections,  leaving  him  with  the 
charge  of  a  family  of  three  sons  and  three 
daughters. 

Affliction,  like  adversity,  tries  and  proves  the 
character.  Mr.  Ward,  stunned  for  a  while  by 
the  blow  which  had  scattered  in  an  instant  his 
dreams  of  human  happiness,  soon  recovered  the 
tone  of  his  mind,  by  looking  to  that  religion  which 
heretofore  perhaps  had  occupied  too  small  a 
portion  of  his  thoughts,  and  which  alone  can 
adequately  console  the  broken  heart. 

He  roused  himself  to  his  duties  as  a  father,  as 
a  member  of  society,  and,  above  all,  as  a  Christian  j 
and  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  years,  he  became 
zealous  and  active  in  his  efforts  to  advance  the 
objects  of  various  literary  institutions  and  asso- 
ciations for  promoting  the  growth  of  morality 
and  religion. 

In  1828,  the  Historical  Society — which,  though 
early  founded,  had  struggled  along  through  a 
precarious  existence,  and  without  other  local 
habitation  than  such  as  the  indulgence  of  the 
Corporation  of  the  city  allowed  it  in  the  build« 


SAMUEL    WARD.  271 

ing  known  as  the  Old  Aims-House, — was,  in 
the  progress  of  the  city's  growth,  which  required 
the  application  to  city  purposes  of  all  their 
buildings,  turned  out  of  doors.  Mr.  Ward  im- 
mediately interested  himself  earnestly  and  suc- 
cessfully in  procuring  for  it,  and  its  already 
valuable  collection,  a  safe  and  convenient  retreat 
in  the  new  building  then  just  erected  by  Mr. 
Peter  Remsen,  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Chambers  street. 

In  1830,  in  connexion  with  Albert  Gallatin, 
Rev.  Drs.  Wainwright,  Matthews,  and  others, 
Mr.  Ward  was  exceedingly  active  in  founding 
the  New  York  University,  towards  which  he 
himself  subscribed  82500,  and  was  mainly  in- 
strumental in  inducing  other  large  subscriptions. 

The  subject  of  sound  and  liberal  education, 
to  be  placed  within  the  reach  of  all,  or  as  nearly 
so  as  possible,  was  one  particularly  near  to  his 
heart,  the  rather  that  he  himself  had  been  balked 
in  his  favorite  wish  of  obtaining  such  an  edu- 
cation. This  loss  was,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  a 
source  of  regret  to  him,  although  assiduous  self- 
culture  and  much  reading,  in  the  intervals  of  a 
very  busy  life,  had,  in  the  estimation  of  others, 
left  him  little  to  regret  on  this  point.  He  there- 
fore followed  up  with  ardor  the  plan  of  the 
University,  took  part  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Literary  Convention,  which  in  1830-1  was  held 
in  this  city,  and  over  which  John  Q.  Adams  pre- 


272  SAMUEL    WABD. 

sided — having  for  its  object,  inquiries  into  tho 
state  of  education  among  us,  and  as  to  the  best 
modes  of  advancing  it, — and  he  persevered  until 
the  New  York  University  was  established. 

About  the  year  1831,  Mr.  Ward  turned  his 
attention  more  especially  to  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious condition  of  the  poorer  classes  in  this  great 
city,  and  entered  warmly  into  the  efforts  then 
making  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  Temperance,  so 
intimately  connected  with  morality ;  and  in  be- 
half of  Mission  Churches  in  those  parts  of  the 
city  where  there  was  most  need  of,  and  least 
opportunity  for,  religious  instruction. 

Of  the  City  Temperance  Society,  which  was 
then  formed,  he  became  the  President,  and  so 
continued  until  the  day  of  his  death,  directing  its 
operations  with  the  well  known  energy  of  his 
character,  but,  at  the  same  time,  with  the  discre- 
tion and  forbearance  that  could  alone  conciliate 
friends  to  this  new  and  most  beneficent  reform. 
It  is  mainly  owing  to  the  good  sense  and  sound 
judgment  which  Mr.  Ward  exhibited  in  this 
situation,  resisting  the  extreme  demand  of  total 
abstinence,  and  the  more  injurious  pretension  to 
interfere  with  the  divine  institution  of  the  Eu- 
charist, that  the  New  York  City  Temperance 
Society  has  maintained  its  ground  unshaken 
amidst  the  perils  resulting  from  ultra  and  un- 
popular doctrines.  In.  addition  to  his  personal 


SAMUEL   WARD.  273 

services,  Mr.  Ward's  pecuniary  contributions  to 
this  society  were  from  8300  to  $500  per  annum. 

The  establishment  of  the  Mission  Church  in 
Vandewater  street,  the  first  in  connexion  with 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  attested  his 
efficiency  in  that  cause.  It  was  upon  his  indi- 
cation and  recommendation  that  the  Rev.  B.  C. 
Cutler  (his  brother-in-law)  was  brought  from 
Quincy,  Massachusetts,  to  take  charge  of  this 
free  church,  and  the  success  with  which  he 
ministered  there,  until  called  to  a  sphere  of  wider 
usefulness  in  Brooklyn,  amply  justified  the  choice. 
Mr.  Ward's  contributions  in  money,  large  as  they 
were,  to  this  object,  and  large  as  were  the  sums 
which  he  prevailed  upon  others  to  give,  were 
hardly  more  important  than  his  punctual  and 
diligent  personal  attendance  once  or  twice  week- 
ly at  the  meetings  held  to  advance  the  interests 
of  this  evangelical  undertaking. 

It  was  about  1831,  that,  after  years  of  self- 
examination  and  study  and  meditation,  he  deter- 
mined to  join  the  church.  From  the  period  of 
Mrs.  Ward's  death  his  mind  had  been  turned  to 
this  result,  but  he  was  too  conscientious  to  act 
in  so  grave  a  matter  without  due  preparation 
and  certain  convictions.  Having  at  last  arrived 
at  his  own  conclusions,  which,  because  adopted 
with  caution,  were  rarely  indeed  altered,  he 
took  the  final  pledge,  and  he  lived  up  to  it,  so 
far  as  fallible  human  judgment  may  decide,  for 


274  SAMUEL   WARD. 

the  remainder  of  his  days.  Among  the  aids  to 
which  he  was  indebted  for  a  right  decision  on 
this  most  momentous  subject,  was  Butler's  Ana- 
logy of  Revealed  Religion ;  and  Mr.  Ward  would 
sometimes  dwell  with  emphasis  upon  the  satis- 
faction with  which,  after  repeated  trials,  and  a 
good  deal  of  intense  study,  he  finally  mastered 
that  most  powerful,  consistent,  and  logical  treatise 
upon  Christianity. 

The  prosperity  which  rewarded  his  labors  as 
a  man  of  business,  seemed  only  to  impose  on 
him  the  desire,  as  it  afforded  the  means,  of  being 
more  extensively  useful.  Without  neglecting 
any  former  objects,  he  extended  the  field  of  his 
labors  and  benefactions.  He  took  a  lively  in- 
terest in  Kenyon  College,  Ohio,  of  which  Bishop 
McIIvaino  had  recently  become  President ;  ho 
made  a  donation  to  it  of  $1000,  and  loaned  it 
a  very  large  sum  besides,  on  the  security  of  its 
lands.  He  also  gave  liberally  to  Bishop  Kemper, 
for  his  college,  and  to  Bishop  Smith,  of  the 
diocese  of  Kentucky,  for  the  spiritual  wants  of 
the  West.  His  money,  however,  as  before  re- 
marked, was  perhaps  the  least  valuable  part  of 
his  services,  for  he  took  a  personal  interest  in  all 
these  subjects,  consulted  about  and  contrived 
means  for  advancing  them,  enlisted  the  active 
support  of  many,  and  the  sympathy  of  all,  in  their 
behalf,  and  thus  literally  went  about  doing 
good. 


SAMUEL    WARD.  275 

In  1836,  Mr.  Ward,  in  conjunction  with  other 
public-spirited  individuals,  founded  the  Stuyvesant 
Institute,  and  erected  the  fine  edifice  bearing  that 
name  in  Broadway,  which  it  was  fondly  hoped, 
like  the  Athenaeum  in  Boston,  might  become  a 
centre  for  literature,  art,  and  science,  in  the  upper 
part  of  our  wide-spreading  city.  The  political 
and  financial  reverses,  that  soon  followed,  de- 
feated, at  least  for  the  present,  this  expectation, 
and  annihilated  for  Mr.  Ward  the  large  sum  of 
84000,  he  had  contributed  to  this  enterprise. 
After-years,  however,  may  yet  realize  the  benefits 
which  he  and  his  associates  meditated  for  their 
day  and  generation,  and  the  noble  fabric  still 
stands,  and  long  may  it  stand,  a  monument  to  the 
liberal  spirit  of  its  founders. 

With  very  clear  and  decided  notions  on  politi- 
cal subjects,  Mr.  Ward  had  yet  kept  himself, — 
as  was,  indeed,  until  1834,  the  case  with  very 
many  of  the  leading  and  active  commercial 
men  in  New  York, — free  from  party  strife. 
As  an  American,  he  felt  bound  to  take  an  in- 
terest in  the  elections,  as  they  recurred,  and 
never  omitted  to  fulfil  the  obligation  of  voting ; 
but  in  the  mere  scramble  for  office,  the  contest 
between  the  ins  and  the  outs,  he  neither  felt  nor 
feigned  any  concern.  When,  however,  in  1834, 
that  series  of  disastrous  measures  commenced, 
which,  under  the  auspices  of  General  Jackson  and 
his  successor,  have  camsed  such  accumulated  ruin 


270  SAMUEL   WARD. 

and  misery,  Mr.  Ward,  with  his  wonted  decision 
and  vigor,  entered  the  political  arena,  and  incited 
and  encouraged  all  who  had  the  welfare  of  the 
country  at  heart,  to  do  likewise.  The  removal  of 
the  public  deposits  from  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  he  pronounced  to  be,  at  the  time,  and 
never  faltered  in  the  belief,  an  act  so  lawless,  vi- 
olent, and  fraught  with  disaster,  that  it  would  and 
must  eventually  overthrow  the  men  and  the 
party  that  resorted  to  it.  He  did  not  live  to  wit- 
ness, as  we  do,  the  entire  and  literal  verification  of 
this  sagacious  opinion. 

The  winter  of  1836-7  was  one  that  called  forth 
in  the  highest  degree  the  exercise  of  Mr.  Ward's 
principles  as  a  commercial  man,  proud  of  the 
great  city  with  whose  growth  his  own  was  iden- 
tified, and  whose  honor  was  to  him  dear  as  his 
own.  Long  and  strenuously  he  strove  to  avert  the 
financial  crisis  then  impending,  declaring  himself 
ready  to  put  all  his  own  earnings  at  hazard,  rather 
than  witness  the  dishonor  of  the  banks  of  New 
York.  Individual  effort,  however,  was  vain,  and 
the  10th  of  May  saw  all  the  banks  reduced  to  sus- 
pend specie  payments;  and  upon  no  man  did 
that  disastrous  day  close  with  deeper  mortifica- 
tion than  upon  the  subject  of  this  notice.  Person- 
ally, and  in  his  business  relations,  this  event  af- 
fected Mr.  Ward  as  little  possibly  as  any  one  at 
all  connected  with  affairs  ;  but,  in  his  estima- 
tion, it  vitally  wounded  the  commercial  honor 


SAMUEL    WARD.  277 

and  character  of  the  city.  He  was  not,  how- 
ever, a  man  to  waste  in  unavailing  regrets,  hours 
that  might  be  more  advantageously  employed  to 
repair  the  evil,  and  he  therefore  at  once  set 
about  the  arrangement  of  measures  for  inducing 
and  enabling  the  banks  to  resume  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment.  The  public  mind  was  far 
from  sound  on  this  topic  ;  the  business  of  banking 
had  been  made  a  sort  of  mystery,  and  ideal 
difficulties  and  interested  objections,  and  timid 
anticipations,  were  again  and  again  the  sole 
replies  to  the  direct  and  manly  suggestions  of 
common  sense,  honesty,  interest,  and  duty,  which 
Mr.  Ward  from  day  to  day,  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  in  the  street,  in  his  office,  an4  in  bank 
parlors,  iterated  and  reiterated,  about  the  abso- 
lute necessity  and  certain  practicability  of  an 
early  resumption.  So  much  earnestness,  how- 
ever, backed  by  so  much  good  sense  and  untiring 
perseverance,  could  not  fail  to  obtain  a  hearing, 
and  gradually  to  make  proselytes.  Little  by 
little  the  circle  of  sound  thinkers  and  correct 
reasoners  was  enlarged,  until  early  in  the  year 
1838,  the  sentiment  that  the  banks  could  and 
should  return  to  specie  payments,  became  more 
and  more  irresistible.  Opposition  from  else- 
where only  induced  greater  efforts  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Ward,  and  those  who  shared  his  coun- 
cils, and  coincided  in  his  views,  to  sustain  the 
confidence  of  the  New  York  institutions  in  their 
24 


278  SAMUEL   WARD. 

ability  to  carry  out  their  honest  purposes.  After 
these  banks  had  announced  their  determination 
to  resume  within  a  year  from  the  day  of  sus- 
pension, Mr.  Ward  was  active  in  organizing  the 
public  meeting  which  pledged  the  merchants 
and  traders  to  stand  by  the  banks.  They  did 
resume,  and  as  Mr.  Ward  had  again  and  again 
predicted,  specie,  instead  of  being  drawn  from, 
flowed  into,  the  banks.  All  difficulties  were  over- 
come, and  the  path  of  honor  and  duty  was  once 
more  entered  upon  by  those  institutions.  Mr. 
Ward,  overwrought  as  he  had  been  by  the  al- 
most exclusive  charge  of  the  extensive  business 
of  the  house, — his  partner,  Mr.  King,  being  in 
Europe, — and  by  his  great  efforts  out  of  doors  in 
bringing  back  specie  payments,  fell  sick.  It  was 
on  a  bed  of  suffering  that  he  first  received  from 
his  partner  in  London,  the  gratifying  intelligence 
that  the  Bank  of  England,  influenced  by  a  wise 
and  provident  desire  to  restore  the  currency  of 
our  country  so  intimately  connected  in  business 
with  Great  Britain,  had  determined  to  confide  to 
their  house  for  that  purpose  a  loan  of  nearly 
$5,000,000,  in  gold.  This  extraordinary  mark  of 
confidence,  this  well-earned  tribute  to  the  pru- 
dence and  integrity  of  the  house,  Mr.  Ward  did 
not  affect  to  undervalue,  and  confirming,  as  it  did, 
the  sagacity  of  his  own  views,  and  the  results 
which  he  had  so  confidently  foretold,  it  was  not 


SAMUEL   WARD.  279 

lost  upon  the  community  in  the  midst  of  which  he 
lived. 

It  was  shortly  after  this  period,  that  the  law  of 
the  State  of  New  York  was  passed  permitting 
private  associations  or  individuals  to  transact  the 
business  of  banking.  Mr.  Ward  conceived  this 
to  be  a  good  occasion  for  establishing  a  bank  on 
what  from  long  experience  he  deemed  to  be  sound 
principles ;  and  the  result  of  his  cogitations  and 
consultations,  frequent,  though  not  with  many  per- 
sons, was  the  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  Com- 
merce, which  in  its  constitution  and  bye-laws 
may,  it  is  believed,  be  truly  described  as  present- 
ing a  model  bank. 

The  health  of  Mr.  Ward,  which  had  under- 
gone several  violent  shocks  from  the  painful 
and  exhausting  disease  of  inflammatory  gout, 
began  to  give  way  under  the  severe  trials 
and  constant  fatigues  to  which  he  exposed  him- 
self; and  when  therefore,  on  the  declension  of 
Mr.  Gallatin,  by  reason  of  advanced  age,  to 
accept  the  presidency  of  the  Bank  of  Com- 
merce, the  station  was  pressed  upon  him,  both  his 
shattered  constitution  and  the  unaffected  diffidence 
which  instinctively  held  him  back  from  accepting 
prominent  station,  combined  to  urge  him  to  re- 
fuse. But  when  he  was  solicited  with  increased 
earnestness  to  accept  the  post,  and  appeals  were 
made  to  his  sense  of  duty,  he  yielded  his  consent 
to  take  the  helm,  until  the  new  bank  should  be 


230  SAMUEL    WA£D. 

fairly  afloat,  and  under  full  and  successful  head- 
way, stipulating  with  that  rare  disinterestedness 
that  entered  so  largely  into  his  character,  not  to 
receive  any  compensation  for  his  services.  Un- 
happily, the  rooms  in  the  new  Exchange,  in  which 
the  business  of  the  bank  was  transacted,  were  yet 
damp  from  recent  plastering,  and  two  successive 
attacks  of  his  ancient  malady,  were  thereby  in- 
duced in  the  spring  of  1839,  which,  by  their  seve- 
rity and  rapid  succession,  fatally  undermined  his 
health.  But  he  yet  struggled  against  disease  and 
debility,  giving  all  the  energy  of  a  mind  that 
soared  above  the  influence  of  bodily  suffering,  to 
perfect  and  consolidate  an  institution,  by  the  en- 
during, just  and  beneficent  operations  of  which 
he  might  reasonably  hope  to  be  remembered  in 
after-years  among  men. 

In  July  of  that  year,  feeble  and  emaciated,  he 
made  his  accustomed  summer  visit  to  Newport, 
but  not  with  the  accustomed  result  of  renovated 
strength  and  spirits ;  the  recuperative  powers  of 
the  system  seemed  exhausted,  while  from  the  cri- 
tical condition  of  the  commercial  and  financial 
affairs  of  the  country,  he,  from  his  connexion  with 
the  Bank  of  Commerce,  was  not  allowed  the  res- 
pite from  business,  which  at  Newport  he  had 
hitherto  been  wont  to  enjoy.  He  kept  up  an  ac- 
tive daily  correspondence  with  the  bank,  took  a 
lively  interest  in  all  its  transactions,  and  when,  in 
October,  the  banks  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  the 


SAMUEL    WARD.  281 

States  south  thereof,  suspended  specie  payments, 
and  clamors  almost  amounting  to  menace,  were 
heard  against  the  declared  purpose  of  the  New 
York  banks  to  maintain  at  all  hazard  their  pay- 
ments, Mr.  Ward  hurried  back,  valetudinarian 
as  he  was,  to  the  city,  threw  himself  at  once  into 
the  conflict,  sustained,  encouraged,  and  convinced 
the  timid  and  the  doubting, — replying  with  truth 
and  energy  to  a  friend  who  admonished  him  of 
the  peril  to  his  exhausted  frame  of  such  exertions, 
that  "  he  would  esteem  life  itself  not  unworthily 
sacrificed,  if,  by  word  or  deed,  he  could  aid  the 
banks  in  adhering  faithfully  to  their  duty."  For 
nearly  two  weeks  he  gave  up  his  time,  thoughts, 
and  labor  to  this  object ;  and  when,  at  last,  he  saw 
that  it  was  accomplished,  and  that  the  honor  and  fair 
fame  of  the  much-loved  city  in  which,  and  with 
which,  he  had  grown  from  boyhood  to  mature 
age,  were  to  be  inviolably  maintained, — he  went 
home  to  die.  It  was  literally  so  ;  the  bed  which 
received  him  after  the  accomplishment  of  this 
his  last  labor,  he  never  again  left  alive. 

Enduring  pain  without  a  murmur, — patient,  gen- 
tle, humble,  and  resigned, — looking  death  steadfast- 
ly in  the  face,  as  one  whose  features  he  had  ac- 
customed himself  to  contemplate, — leaning  for  sup- 
port upon  the  Rock  of  Ages,— consoled  by  the 
memories  of  a  well-spent  life, — at  peace  with  him- 
self and  with  the  world, — he  expired  in  the  midst 
24* 


282  SAMUEL    WARD. 

of  his  family  and  friends,  on  the  27th  of  November, 
1839. 

In  his  personal  intercourse  with  the  world, 
Mr.  Ward  was  direct,  almost  to  abruptness.  Sin- 
cere and  decided  in  his  own  views,  he  was  impa- 
tient of  circumlocution  and  indecision  in  others. 
He  was  a  stickler  for  punctuality,  not  only  as  an 
act  of  politeness,  but  as  economizing  what  he 
deemed  a  precious  possession — time. 

Having  early  proposed  to  himself  a  particular 
aim  in  life,  he  never  lost  sight  of  it  until  success 
crowned  his  efforts.  Of  this  singleness  of  purpose 
and  unwavering  determination,  this  anecdote  is 
told  by  an  elderly  lady,  still  living :  that  upon  her 
questioning  him  while  yet  a  lad,  as  to  what  he 
meant  to  be,  his  immediate  reply  was,  "  I  mean 
to  be  one  of  the  first  bankers  in  the  Untied 
States." 

In  the  intercourse  with  his  family  and  friends, 
he  was  eminently  confiding,  generous,  and  tender. 
As  son,  brother,  parent,  and  friend,  he  was,  not 
irreproachable  merely,  but  admiralble ;  and  in 
all  the  relations  of  life,  he  exemplified  and 
adorned  the  character  of  a  good  citizen,  a  hum- 
ble Christian,  and  an  honest  man.^ 

If  we  have  not  wholly  failed  in  our  sketch  of 
such  a  character,  it  will  not  be  without  its  moral 
and  encouragement  for  others. 


283 


STEPHEN  VAN  RENSSELAER. 

GENERAL  VAN  RENSSELAER,  generally  known  as 
the  "Patroon,"  for  upward  of  half  a  century, 
has  filled  a  wide  space  in  the  sphere  of  usefulness, 
not  only  in  the  immediate  community  in  which  he 
resided,  but  in  the  whole  State  and  country.  His 
father  dying  when  he  was  very  young,  he  came 
to  his  princely  estates  early  in  life.  From  that 
day  until  his  decease,  his  life,  both  in  public  and 
private,  was  that  of  virtue  and  honor,  and  of  ex- 
pansive benevolence.  His  hand  was  set  to  every 
good  work,  and  his  heart  beat  responsively  to 
every  thing  calculated  to  awaken  human  sym- 
pathy. 

He  was  the  last  of  those  who  may,  in  one  re- 
spect at  least,  be  classed  among  the  colonial  gen- 
try, as  the  lav*  of  entail  ceases  with  him.  There 
are  those  remaining  who  yet  remember  the  festi- 
vities of  the  tenantry  of  Rensselaerwick,  when 
the  young  Patroon,  as  he  was  called,  came  of 
age.  The  event  was  celebrated  with  great  feast- 
ing and  rejoicings — the  roasting  of  oxen,  and  the 
killing  of  poultry,  and  knocking  in  the  heads  of 
butts  of  brown  ale — after  the  manner  of  feudal 
times. 


284  STEPHEN    VAN    RENSSELAEE. 

He  was  educated  at  Harvard  College,  and  mar- 
ried, as  his  first  wife,  the  daughter  of  General 
Schuyler,  the  heroine  of  the  general's  family,  who 
snatched  her  infant  sister  from  the  cradle,  and 
rushed  through  the  gang  of  John  Waltermeyer, 
when  that  tory  chieftain  was  attempting  to  abduct 
General  Schuyler  from  his  mansion,  during  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  His  second  wife  is  the 
daughter  of  the  late  eminent  Judge  Patterson,  of 
New  Jersey. 

At  the  election  of  John  Jay,  as  governor  of  New 
York,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  was  elected  lieu- 
tenant-governor. He  subsequently  served  in  the 
Senate  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  afterward 
several  times  in  the  House  of  Assembly.  In  the 
year  1 82 1 ,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  conven- 
tion which  formed  the  new  constitution  of  the  State. 
Soon  after  this  event  he  was  chosen  to  represent 
the  city  and  county  of  Albany  in  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  in  which  station  he  served 
eight  or  ten  years,  greatly  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  his  constituents.  It  was  Jby  his  casting 
vote  in  the  New  York  delegation  in  Congress, 
that  Mr.  Adams  was  elected  President,  on  the 
first  ballot,  in  February,  1825  ;  by  which  act,  un- 
der all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  the 
very  delicate  position  in  which  he  was  placed, 
he  won  for  himself  great  credit  for  his  moral 
eourage  and  patriotism. 

In  1816  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Board  of 


STEPHEN    VAN    RENSSELABR.  285 

Canal  Commissioners,  of  which  body  he  became 
the  president,  on  the  removal  of  Dewitt  Clinton, 
in  1824,  and  at  the  head  of  which  he  remained 
until  his  decease.  He  was  likewise  for  a  long 
series  of  years  a  regent  of  the  University  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  the  chancellor  of  that 
body  after  the  decease  of  the  late  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Taylor.  For  more  than  thirty  years  he 
was,  we  believe,  the  major-general  of  the  cavalry 
of  the  State  of  New  York.  Certainly  he  was  in 
the  occupancy  of  that  rank  at  the  commencement 
of  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain  in  1812.  And 
the  alacrity  with  which  he  repaired  to  the  Nia- 
gara frontier,  and  assumed  the  command,  in  that 
year,  at  the  instance  of  Governor  Tompkins,  has 
ever  been  considered  an  evidence  of  his  disinter- 
ested patriotism,  inasmuch  as  he  had  been  op- 
posed in  principle  to  the  declaration  of  that  war, 
and  inasmuch,  also,  as  his  princely  fortune,  and 
his  partiality  for  the  tranquil  pursuits  of  private 
and  domestic  life,  afforded  him  every  inducement 
for  avoiding  {he  toils  and  hardships  of  the  field. 
His  campaign  was  crowned  with  the  brilliant, 
though  in  the  end  disastrous,  affair  of  Queens- 
ton  ;  and  had  his  means  been  equal  to  his  brave- 
ry and  military  skill,  the  sun  of  that  year  would 
not  have  gone  down,  as  it  did,  in  gloom. 

But  it  is  in  the  retirement  of  private  life,  and  in 
the  walks  of  Christian  philanthropy  and  benevo- 
lence, that  the  example  of  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer 


286        STEPHEN  VAN  RENSSELAER. 

affords  the  most  attractive  subject  for  contem- 
plation. His  whole  course  was  marked  by 
benevolent  actions,  while  his  path  was  ever 
illuminated  by  the  bright  though  softened  lustre 
of  the  Christian  religion.  He  was  literally  the 
father  of  the  fatherless,  and  ever,  and  in  all  cir- 
cumstances, the  poor  man's  friend.  He  was  a 
liberal  patron  of  literature  and  the  arts,  as  his 
numerous  benefactors  will  bear  ample  testimony. 
In  connexion  with  our  great  national  institution 
of  Christian  benevolence,  his  name  has  ever 
stood  most  prominent.  He  was  one  of  the  ear- 
liest and  most  efficient  friends  of  the  Bible 
Society,  and  his  name  was  for  a  long  time  num- 
bered upon  the  honored  list  of  Vice-Presidents. 
For  many  years  before  his  decease,  he  had  been 
at  the  head  of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions  ;  and  his  name  is 
munificently  connected  with  many  other  kindred 
institutions,  which  cannot  now  be  enumerated. 
Long  will  the  poor  of  Albany  have  reason  to 
deplore  his  loss ;  long  will  the  numerous  tenantry 
of  his  extensive  domains  have  reason  to  bless  his 
memory  ;  and  long  will  the  Christian  public  have 
cause  to  mourn  the  departure  of  a  stanch  and 
unwavering  friend  and  most  liberal  benefactor. 

A  gentleman  by  birth,  education  and  asso- 
ciations, a  brother-in-law  of  Hamilton,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  elevated  circles  of  the  palmy  days  of 
the  young  republic,  the  manners  of  Mr.  Van 


STEPHEN    VAN    RENSSELAER.  287 

Rensselaer  were  those  of  the  old  school — at  once 
simple,  elegant,  and  unostentatious.  His  temper 
was  marked  with  native  sweetness  and  amia- 
bility, blended  with  many  Christian  graces.  His 
deeds  of  charity  were  not  performed  to  be  seen 
of  men,  and  as  his  left  hand  did  not  know  what 
was  done  by  his  right,  the  records  of  his  bounty 
have  been  kept  only  above.  His  political  prin- 
ciples were  those  of  the  "  father  of  his  country." 
His  religious,  those  of  the  Bible — unsophisti- 
cated by  false  philosophy,  and  untinctured  by 
fanaticism.  He  was  evidently  a  practical  Chris- 
tian. 

His  last  end  was  peace.  For  more  than  a 
year  before  his  decease,  he  had  expressed  himself 
ready  to  depart,  and  awaited  with  composure  the 
summons  of  the  messenger.  He  died  January 
26th,  1839,  in  the  74th  year  of  his  age. 


288 


DR.   HENRY   PERRINE. 

BT   W.   M.   GILLESPIE. 

IF  it  be  true,  that  "  he  who  causes  two  blades 
of  grass  to  grow  where  one  grew  before,  is  a 
benefactor  of  his  country,"  the  highest  praise 
must  be  due  to  him  who  introduces  new  and 
valuable  objects  of  culture,  and  by  their  means 
converts  desert  tracts,  before  valueless  and 
noxious,  into  permanent  sources  of  wealth  and 
prosperity.  Such  praise  is  merited  by  the  late  Dr. 
HENRY  PERRINE. 

He  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  was  educated 
as  a  physician,  and  practised  his  profession  with 
great  success  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  In  1826,  he 
was  appointed  by  John  Q.  Adams,  American 
Consul  at  Campeachy.  He  resided  there  for 
many  years,  and  thus  became  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  the  value  of  the  agricultural  pro- 
ductions of  the  provinces  of  Campeachy,  Yucatan, 
and  Sisal.  His  comprehensive  mind  perceived 
the  benefits  that  would  arise  from  transferring 
their  culture  to  the  United  States  ;  but  to  this 
the  narrow-minded  jealousy  of  the  inhabitants 
interposed  great  obstacles.  When  they  could 
not  avoid  allowing  seeds  to  leave  the  country, 


DR.    HENRY    PEKRINE.  289 

they  would  boil  them  previously,  that  their  sub- 
sequent germination  might  be  impossible.  But 
Dr.  Perrine's  philanthropic  employment  of  his 
professional  skill  overcame  this  difficulty.  The 
cholera  scourged  those  regions  more  heavily  in 
proportion  to  their  population,  than  any  others, 
and  he  was  unwearied,  night  and  day,  in  affording 
relief  to  the  sick.  So  distinguished  were  his 
services,  that  the  Mexican  government  gave  him 
a  public  vote  of  thanks.  He  thus  obtained  many 
devoted  friends,  some  of  whom  had  the  courage 
to  supply  him  with  the  great  object  of  his  desires, 
in  spite  of  the  denunciations  of  the  priesthood. 

Dr.  Perrine  was  thus  enabled  to  transfer  to 
the  congenial  soil  of  Florida,  and  to  the  care  of 
his  intimate  friend,  Mr.  Howe,  many  valuable 
tropical  plants.  Among  them  the  most  important 
was  the  Agave  Sisalana,  a  plant  precisely  the 
same  as  that  which  produces  the  valuable  article 
of  merchandise  known  in  the  market  as  Manilla 
hemp;  The  peculiar  cactus  upon  which  the 
cochineal  insect  feeds,  as  well  as  bananas,  and 
other  esculent  plants,  were  also  among  the  objects 
of  his  cultivation.  His  experiments  demon- 
strated that  the  staples  of  the  tropics  may  be 
advantageously  produced  in  our  southern  States, 
some  of  them  as  far  north  as  Virginia  ;  and  that 
the  sand  barrens  and  noxious  morasses  of  Florida 
are  peculiarly  adapted  to  produce,  almost  without 
labor,  by  self-propagation,  the  various  fibroug 
25 


290  DR.    HENRY    PERRINE. 

plants  from  which  are  manufactured  Manilla 
and  Sisal  rope,  the  beautiful  variety  of  grass 
cloths,  &c. 

Having  resigned  his  office  of  consul,  Dr. 
Perrine  came  to  the  United  States  to  carry  his 
/'"''plans  into  operation.  He  attended  the  session  of 
Congress  in  1838,  and  laid  before  the  members 
his  philanthropic  project.  In  the  room  appro- 
priated to  the  committee  on  agriculture  he  dis- 
played some  specimens  of  fibrous  plants,  in  their 
original  and  manufactured  states.  In  a  memorial 
to  Congress,  he  embodied  a  vast  amount  of  in- 
formation upon  the  nature  and  habits  of  various 
useful  plants,  and  proved  the  practicability  and 
advantages  of  his  theories.  For  aid  in  these 
great  plans,  he  asked  the  aid  of  government ; 
not  in  money,  but  in  a  grant  of  lands  generally 
considered  worthless  and  uninhabitable.  After 
long  solicitation,  he  received  permission  to  locate 
a  settlement  for  the  propagation  of  tropical 
plants  upon  the  public  lands  in  Florida,  with  the 
privilege  of  purchasing  any  surrounding  lands 
at  the  market  price  when  the  Indians  should  be 
removed. 

Having  so  far  succeeded,  he  came  to  the  north, 
to  inquire  into  the  wants  of  the  manufacturers, 
the  kinds  of  fibre  most  likely  to  be  first  demanded, 
and  the  machinery  which  would  best  cleanse 
them  from  the  surrounding  pulp  and  enveloping 
skin.  His  next  step  would  have  been,  upon  the 


DR.    HENRY    PERRINE.  291 

cessation  of  Indian  hostilities,  to  collect  a  number 
of  poor  but  industrious  families,  and  settle  them 
upon  the  lands  of  his  Florida  grant,  ensuring  them 
a  subsistence,  until,  by  their  labor  and  acquired 
skill,  they  became  able  to  support  and  enrich 
themselves.  He  had  proceeded  to  Florida  with 
his  family,  and  was  residing  at  Indian  Key  when 
that  place  was  attacked  by  the  Indians  during  the 
past  summer.  He  addressed  them  in  Spanish  from 
the  top  of  his  house,  and  prevailed  upon  them  to 
retire.  They  returned  however  after  midnight, 
burst  into  the  house,  and  there  put  an  end  to  his  life 
and  patriotic  labors.  His  family  escaped  by  means 
of  a  boat,  which  the  Indians  had  left  near  the 
house. 

So  perished  Dr.  Perrine,  another  victim  of  the 
murderous  Florida  war.  But  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  his  splendid  scheme  for  the  increase  of  nation- 
al wealth  will  not  perish  with  him.  Its  great  im- 
portance will  most  clearly  appear,  when  we  re- 
flect that  our  cotton,  rice,  and  tobacco  crops  are 
rapidly  exhausting  the  soil  of  our  southern  States. 
This  effect  is  most  strongly  seen  in  Virginia 
where  many  estates,  once  among  the  most  fertile 
in  the  Old  Dominion,  are  now  worthless  barrens. 
But  even  were  this  not  the  case,  the  introduction 
of  new  objects  of  culture  is  yet  highly  laudable. 
A  prudent  capitalist  is  careful  not  to  invest  all  his 
fortune  in  any  one  enterprise,  however  promising 
and  apparently  secure  it  may  be,  and  however 


292  DR.    HENRY    PERRINE. 

great  its  present  returns.  Should  a  nation  exer- 
cise less  forethought  than  an  individual,  in  matters 
of  so  much  greater  moment  ?  England  is  en- 
couraging the  cotton  culture  in  India,  and  has 
sent  out  thither  some  of  our  own  skilful  planters, 
whose  experience  she  will  turn  against  us.  The 
enterprising,  though  despotic,  Pacha  of  Egypt, 
finds  time  amid  his  wars  to  promote  the  same 
object  in  his  kingdom,  and  will  thus  produce  it 
at  comparatively  the  doors  of  the  consumers. 
With  these  and  similar  facts  before  us,  we  may 
estimate  at  nearer  their  true  value,  the  great 
projects  of  Dr.  Perrine  for  increasing  our  national 
objects  of  cultivation  and  commerce. 

It  would  be  perhaps  too  much  to  expect  that 
another  could  arise,  possessing  his  experience, 
talents  and  energy,  but  we  would  earnestly  hope 
that,  among  his  many  friends,  some  will  be  found, 
able  and  willing  to  carry  out  successfully  his 
noble  enterprise. 


293 


TIMOTHY   FLINT. 

THE  race  of  pioneers  in  the  cause  of  American 
literature  is  passing  from  the  earth.  It  is  a  sub- 
ject of  just  regret  that  so  scanty  memorials  of 
their  several  characters  and  lives  have  been 
given  to  the  public  by  their  cotemporaries  and 
friends,  that  the  most  interesting  and  instructive 
details  of  personal  character,  calculated  to  delight 
and  improve  the  future  admirers  of  their  sur- 
viving efforts,  and  which,  once  lost,  can  never 
be  recovered,  have  been  too  generally  suffered  to 
sink  into  oblivion,  because  no  hand  has  been  put 
forth  to  preserve  them. 

Our  country  will  yet  feel  and  deplore  this 
omission  as  a  misfortune.  The  founders  of  her 
political  independence  have  gone  to  their  graves 
amid  the  tokens  of  a  nation's  gratitude  and 
affection  ;  the  turf  above  their  mouldering  bones 
is  yet  verdant  with  the  proud,  regretful  tears  of 
millions,  who  have  learned  from  history,  from 
biography,  from  story  and  song,  the  glowing  tale 
of  their  trials  and  their  achievements.  The 
founders  of  her  intellectual  independence  have 
thus  far  met  a  different  fate.  Will  it  be  ever 
thus?  We  trust  not.  The  value  of  literary 
25* 


294  TIMOTHY    FLINT. 

biography  has  not  been  sufficiently  estimated 
among  us.  Its  lessons  have  been  listened  to  and 
heeded  with  scarce  a  thought  of  the  source 
whence  the  salutary  monitions  emanated.  It  is 
the  fashion  to  ridicule  and  contemn  the  uncon- 
sciously admitted  faults  of  the  Boswells  of  liter- 
ature ;  but  what  would  we  not  give  for  a  delinea- 
tion of  Shakspeare  by  a  Boswell  ? 

The  writer  of  this  brief  sketch  laments  that  it 
has  not  been  found  possible,  by  reason  of  the  haste 
with  which  the  concluding  sheets  of  this  work 
are  put  to  press,  to  obtain  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Flint's 
eventful  career  from  the  pen  of  a  personal  ac- 
quaintance, and  that,  in  the  absence  of  personal 
knowledge,  the  materials  before  him  are  vague, 
scanty,  and  Jmperfect.  All  he  can  hope  to  effect 
is  the  arrangement  of  these  materials  in  the  most 
natural  and  intelligible  order. 

TIMOTHY  FLINT  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Reading,  Massachusetts,  in  the  year  1780.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  University,  in  1800,  and 
was  soon  after  ordained  to  the  Christian  ministry 
in  the  Congregational  order.  He  accepted  a  call 
from  the  Congregational  Society  in  Lunenburg, 
Massachusetts,  to  assume  the  pastoral  charge  of 
that  church,  and  there  remained  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  his  sacred  calling  for  several 
years.  He  then  accepted  an  appointment  as  a 
missionary  to  labor  in  the  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, to  which  he  repaired  in  1814.  After 


TIMOTHY    FLINT.  295 

devoting  several  years  to  that  service,  residing 
principally  at  Cincinnati,  he  relinquished  the 
post  of  missionary,  partly  on  account  of  his 
feeble  health,  which  was  thought  to  dictate  a 
removal  to  a  more  southern  climate,  but  essen- 
tially, if  we  mistake  not,  because  a  change  of  his 
religious  creed  from  Orthodoxy,  so  called,  to 
Unitarianism,  rendered  a  dissolution  of  his  mis- 
sionary connexion,  or  at  least  a  cessation  of  his 
dependence  on  the  Congregational  church,  just 
and  proper.  He  removed  to  Alexandria,  parish 
of  Rapides,  on  the  Red  river,  Louisiana,  and 
there  engaged  in  the  conduct  of  a  literary  semi- 
nary. Here  his  family  resided  at  the  time  of 
his  death. 

In  1825,  soon  after  his  removal  to  Louisiana, 
Mr.  Flint  wrote  his  "  Recollections  of  Ten  Years 
passed  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  which 
was  published  in  the  course  of  the  following 
year.  This  work  extended  to  four  hundred 
octavo  pages,  and  is  written  with  that  bland 
simplicity  and  vigorous  fluency  of  style  which 
distinguish  all  his  works.  Its  appreciation  by 
the  public  was  more  ready  and  cordial  than  is 
often  the  fortune  of  the  first  production  of  an 
author  wholly  unknown  to  the  public  which  he 
addresses.  Though  a  veritable  narration  of  the 
author's  experience  and  observations,  the  "  Recol- 
lections" possess  all  the  charm  of  a  romance, 
blended  with  a  more  abiding  interest  and  value. 


TIMOTHY    FLINT.  296 

They  contain  the  most  graphic  and  faithful 
delineations  of  the  scenery  and  physical  aspect 
of  the  region  depicted,  that  has  ever  yet  been 
given  to  the  public. 

Mr.  Flint's  next  work,  "  The  History  and  Geog- 
raphy of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  was  published  at 
Cincinnati  in  1827.  It  was  an  original  production, 
composed  with  great  labor  and  care  from  mate- 
rials principally  collected  by  himself  in  the  course 
of  his  travels  in  that  vast  and  fertile  region,  and 
will  long  preserve  his  name  in  the  West.  It  has 
passed  through  three  or  four  editions,  and  still 
remains  the  best  treatise  extant  on  the  subject 
which  it  professes  to  illustrate. 

"  Francis  Berrian,  or  the  Mexican  Patriot,"  Mr. 
Flint's  first  essay  in  the  department  of  romance, 
was  published  in  Boston  in  1826.  Very  few 
better  American  novels  have  issued  from  the 
press ;  hardly  one  more  agreeable,  or  fraught 
with  deeper  interest.  The  unstudied  naivete  and 
freedom  from  pretence  which  mark  its  pages  are 
hardly  surpassed  in  the  romances  of  Goldsmith 
or  Fielding,  from  which,  however,  it  widely  dif- 
fers in  scope  and  in  the  characters  delineated. 

"Francis  Berrian"  was  followed  in  1827,  by 
"  Arthur  Clenning,"  a  similar  work  of  imagination ; 
and  this  in  1828  by  "  George  Mason,  the  Young 
"  Backwoodsman,  a  story  of  Mississippi,"  which 
was  received  with  even  greater  favor  than  his 
first  effort.  In  1830,  he  gave  to  the  public  his 


TIMOTHY    FLINT.  297 

last  original  romance,  "  The  Shoshonee  Valley," 
the  scene  of  which  is  laid  beyond   the  Rocky      / 
Mountains,  "  in  a  country  which  for  beauty  has  no 
parallel  in  the  world." 

In  1833,  Mr.  Flint  edited  some  numbers  of 
"  The  Knickerbocker  Magazine,"  which  had  been  J 
projected  and  issued  at  the  commencement  of 
that  year  by  Mr.  Peabody,  a  publisher  of  this 
city.  Mr.  C.  F.  Hoffman  had  first  been  engaged 
as  editor,  but  retired  in  a  few  months,  on  personal 
grounds.  We  believe  Mr.  Flint's  editorship  was 
rather  nominal  than  actual,  though  he  contributed 
many  valuable  papers  to  the  Magazine,  as  well 
before  and  after,  as  during  his  editorial  connexion 
with  it.  In  the  outset  of  1834,  the  proprietorship 
of  the  Magazine  was  changed,  and  with  that 
change  Mr.  Flint's  editorship  ceased. 

During  the  year  of  his  connexion  with  the 
Knickerbocker,  he  wrote  his  volume  on  "  Natural 
History,  Geometry,  Chemistry,  the  Application  of 
Steam,  and  Interesting  Discoveries  in  the  Arts," 
which  was  published  in  Boston.  In  the  early 
part  of  1834,  he  translated  from  the  French,  "Ce- 
libacy Vanquished,  or  the  Old  Bachelor  Reclaim- 
ed," a  novel  which  gained  a  considerable  though 
transient  popularity.  He  also  translated  at  dif- 
ferent periods  several  other  works  of  similar 
character. 

For  three  years  Mr.  Flint  edited  the  Western 
Monthly  Magazine  at  Cincinnati.  His  own  con- 


298  TIMOTHY    FLINT. 

tributions  to  this  work  would  make  several  large 
volumes,  and  they  constitute  nearly  the  best  spe- 
cimens of  American  periodical  literature.  He 
wrote,  during  the  successive  years  of  his  literary 
labors,  a  great  number  of  tales  and  sketches  for 
annuals  and  the  literary  journals  with  which  he  was 
not  immediately  connected.  The  works  we  have 
enumerated  do  not  comprise  nearly  all  he  wrote, 
but  we  have  not  before  us,  nor  can  we  recollect, 
the  titles  of  his  other  productions.  His  mind  was 
vigorous,  but  highly  imaginative  ;  he  had  a  dis- 
criminating judgment,  deep  sensibility,  warm  af- 
fections, and  a  quick  perception  of  the  grand  and 
beautiful. 

During  the  last  years  of  his  life,  enfeebled  by 
disease,  he  wrote  but  little  for  the  public.  He 
left  his  Louisiana  home  early  in  May,  1840,  on  a 
visit  to  the  place  of  his  nativity,  hoping  to  derive 
a  benefit  from  the  bracing  air  of  New  England. 
He  was  at  Natchez  when  the  terrible  tornado  de- 
vastated it,  and  there  narrowly  escaped  destruc- 
tion, having  with  his  son  been  buried  for  some 
time  beneath  the  ruins,  with  the  multitude  of  the 
whirlwind's  victims.  Soon  after  his  arrival  at 
Reading,  his  malady  assumed  a  more  malignant 
character,  and  he  wrote  to  his  wife  in  Louisiana, 
that  when  she  received  that  letter  he  would  have 
ceased  to  exist.  This  sorrowful  intelligence 
doubtless  precipitated  her  own  death,  which  oc- 
curred but  a  few  days  after  the  letter  reached 


TIMOTHY    FLINT.  299 

her.  The  prediction  of  his  own  decease  was 
premature,  but  only  too  well  grounded.  On  the 
18th  of  August,  Timothy  Flint  breathed  his  last, 
at  the  age  of  60  years.  Though  far  removed 
from  his  family  and  the  friends  of  his  maturer 
years,  he  died  deeply  regretted  by  a  limitless 
circle  of  friends,  and  by  the  country  to  whose 
literature  he  had  made  such  important  contribu- 
tions. 


300 


MATTHEW  CAREY. 

AMERICA  has  adopted  few  sons  who  proved  to  be 
more  patriotic  or  worthy  her  fostering  care  than 
the  subject  of  this  imperfect  sketch.  He  was 
born  in  Ireland  on  the  28th  of  January,  1760,  of 
worthy  and  opulent  parents.  In  his  early  life 
his  education  was  confined  to  the  branches  of  a 
common  English  education  ;  and  upon  reaching 
the  age  of  15,  although  against  his  father's  wishes, 
he  went,  as  an  apprentice,  to  learn  the  printer's 
trade  with  a  Mr.  McDonnell  of  Dublin.  He  says 
of  himself,  that  at  this  time  he  was  very  fond  of 
miscellaneous  reading,  and  was  enabled  to  grati- 
fy his  taste  in  this  particular  by  the  kindness  of  a 
keeper  of  a  circulating  library,  who  used  to  sup- 
ply him  clandestinely  with  books.  His  studious 
habits  were  confirmed  by  the  necessity  which  a 
lameness  in  his  foot  laid  upon  him,  to  abstain  from 
the  usual  sports  of  children  and  youth. 

His  first  essay  in  writing  was  when  he  was 
about  the  age  of  17,  and  was  upon  the  subject  of 
duelling.  It  was  drawn  out  in  consequence  of 
an  unlucky  quarrel  between  his  fellow-apprenti- 
ces, in  which  his  employer  was  in  some  way  in- 
volved, who  was  excessively  enraged  at  young 


MATTHEW    CABEY.  301 

Carey's  strictures.  His  next  production  was  a 
pamphlet,  written  in  1779,  upon  the  oppression  of 
the  Irish  Catholics.  It  was  a  work  of  no  little 
ability,  and  was  dictated  by  an  ardent  love  of 
civil  and  religious  freedom,  and  written  with 
great  force  and  asperity  against  the  British  Go- 
vernment. The  publication  of  it  produced  great 
excitement ;  and  Parliament  being  then  in  session, 
the  Duke  of  Leicester  brought  it  before  the  House 
of  Lords,  and  Sir  Thomas  Connelly  before  the 
House  of  Commons.  It  was  denounced  as  trea- 
sonable  and  seditious,  and  a  reward  was  offered, 
by  a  recreant  body  of  his  own  countrymen 
whose  cause  he  had  undertaken  to  vindicate,  for 
the  apprehension  of  Mr.  Carey.  He  immediately 
embarked  for  France,  and  was  employed  for  a 
while  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Franklin,  then  the  Ame- 
rican Minister  at  Paris,  and  who  kept  a  small  / 
press  for  the  purpose  of  reprinting  his  despatches 
and  other  valuable  documents.  While  in  France 
he  was  called  upon  by  Lafayette,  who  was  seek- 
ing information  relative  to  the  condition  and  pros- 
pects of  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland. 

After  remaining  in  France  for  about  a  year,  he 
returned  to  Dublin,  and  established  a  paper  called 
the  "  Freeman's  Journal."  It  was  commenced  in 
October,  1783,  and  is  described  by  the  editor  as 
having  been  "  violent  and  enthusiastic."  It  soon 
drew  upon  his  head  the  persecution  of  the  Govern- 
ment ;  and  he  was  soon  arrested  for  a  libel  on 
26 


802  MATTHEW    CAREY. 

the  Premier,  brought  before  Parliament  and  com- 
mitted to  Newgate.  He  was  released,  however, 
in  a  few  weeks,  and  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding 
sundry  other  vexatious  suits  then  pending  against 
him,  he  embarked  in  disguise  and  landed  at  Phila- 
delphia on  the  15th  of  November,  1784. 

He  was  now  nearly  penniless ;  but  he  was 
soon  invited  by  Lafayette,  who  was  then  in  this 
country,  and  had  accidentally  been  informed  of  the 
vicissitudes  of  his  fortune,  to  call  upon  him.  He 
received  him  with  great  kindness,  encouraged 
him  in  his  half-formed  project  of  establishing  a 
newspaper  in  Philadelphia,  and  a  few  days  after 
sent  him  as  a  free  gift  the  handsome  sum  of  four 
hundred  dollars.  This  was  an  act  worthy  his 
sympathising  generosity,  and  it  is  but  justice  to 
say  that  Mr.  Carey  subsequently  repaid  him  in 
full. 

He  now  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
"  Pennsylvania  Herald,"  and  made  it  extremely 
popular  by  introducing  the  novel  practice,  in  this 
country,  of  publishing  in  extenso  the  speeches  of 
the  House  of  Assembly.  Party  spirit  at  that 
time,  in  Pennsylvania,  ran  exceedingly  high,  and 
he  was  soon  involved  in  a  quarrel  with  Col.  Os- 
wald, the  conductor  of  the  "  Gazetteer,"  the  organ 
of  the  party  to  which  Mr.  Carey  was  opposed. 
A  bitter  newspaper  controversy,  discreditable 
alike  to  both  parties,  ensued,  terminating  in  a 
duel,  in  which  Mr.  Carey  received  a  wound  that 


MATTHEW    CAREY.  303 

laid  him  up  for  over  a  year.  It  is  but  an  act  of 
fairness  to  Mr.  Carey  to  say,  that  he  ever  after 
depreciated  this  act  as  rash  and  misjudged, — and 
contended  vigorously  for  the  abolition  of  this  relic 
of  the  ages  of  barbarism. 

He  soon  engaged  in  the  publication  of  the 
"  Columbian  Magazine,"  from  which,  however, 
he  finally  withdrew,  and  commenced  the  "  Ameri- 
can Museum,"  a  magazine  intended  to  preserve 
the  valuable  fugitive  essays  of  the  day,  which  he 
continued  until  1787.  His  success  in  these  un- 
dertakings was  very  slight,  and,  as  a  specimen  of 
his  extreme  poverty,  he  mentions  the  circumstance 
that  a  German  paper-maker,  living  fifteen  miles 
from  the  city,  came  five  times  for  the  payment  of 
a  note  for  thirty-five  dollars,  receiving  the  amount 
in  as  many  instalments. 

In  1793,  Mr.  Carey,  with  Mr.  Girard  and 
others,  was  very  efficient  in  his  devotion  to  the 
sick,  during  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever 
in  Philadelphia.  Their  efforts  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  afflicted  were  attended  with  great 
success.  In  the  same  year,  out  of  his  warm 
regard  for  the  welfare  of  his  countrymen  who 
came  to  our  shores,  he  was  chiefly  instrumental 
in  the  formation  of  a  society  for  the  special  relief 
of  emigrants  from  Ireland,  an  institution  which 
has  since  done  much  good,  and  is  still  numbered 
among  the  most  beneficial  societies  in  that  city. 

While    Mr.  Cobbett  was    in   Philadelphia,  in 


304  MATTHEW    CABEY. 

1796,  he  becapne  involved  in  an  angry  personal 
controversy — carried  on  with  great  bitterness 
and  virulence,  as  well  as  ability,  on  both  sides. 
It  was  confined,  however,  to  a  "  war  of  words," 
and  resulted  in  nothing  more  serious.  In  1810, 
he  engaged  with  great  zeal  and  earnestness  in 
the  contest  which  then  raged  with  regard  to  the 
renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  He  wrote  a  series  of  essays  warmly 
advocating  its  renewal,  and  gave  great  attention 
to  the  diligent  consideration  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject. 

The  publication  of  "  The  Olive  Branch,"  Mr. 
Carey  regards  as  one  of  the  most  important 
events  of  his  life.  It  took  place  in  1814.  The 
purpose  which  the  author  had  in  producing  it 
was  to  "  endeavor,  by  a  candid  publication  of  the 
follies  and  errors  of  both  sides,  to  calm  the  em- 
bittered feeling  of  the  political  parties."  The 
first  edition  was  produced  within  the  leisure  time 
of  six  or  seven  weeks.  It  formed  a  duodecimo 
volume  of  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  pages,  of 
which  about  eighty  were  public  documents.  It 
was  sold  out  immediately,  and  the  author  says, 
"  I  was  preparing  a  new  edition  when  the  thrice- 
welcome  news  of  peace  arrived,  which  I  thought 
would  render  it  unnecessary."  But  he  subse- 
quently had  good  reason  to  change  that  opinion, 
by  the  demands  that  came  in ;  and  one  edition 
after  another  was  prepared,  each  one  receiving 


MATTHEW    CAREY.  305 

some  version  or  addition,  until,  within  three  years 
and  a  half,  ten  editions  were  struck  off,  there 
having  been  over  ten  thousand  copies  sold. 

His  next  large  work  was  the  "  Vindication  of 
Ireland,"  which  appeared  in  1819.  His  object  in 
writing  this  work  was  to  prove,  among  many 
other  positions,  that,  from  the  invasion  of  Ireland 
by  Cromwell,  the  government  of  that  country 
had  been  marked  by  almost  every  species  of 
"  fraud,  chicanery,  cruelty,  and  oppression  ;"  that 
the  Irish  were,  from  time  to  time,  goaded  into 
insurrection  ;  that  they  did  not  enjoy  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion ;  that  the  pretended 
conspiracy  of  1641  was  a  miserable  fabrication  ; 
and  that  the  massacres,  said  to  have  been  com- 
mitted by  the  Irish  in  the  insurrection  of  the 
same  year,  are  unfounded  in  fact. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  merits  of  the 
work,  it  certainly  evinced  great  patience  and 
industry  in  its  author,  and  was  extremely  popular 
in  Ireland,  where  it  was  pronounced  by  the  high- 
est authorities  to  be  the  ablest  and  the  best  vin- 
dication of  Ireland  that  was  ever  written. 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  this  work,  he 
entered  the  lists  in  favor  of  "  The  Protective 
System  of  American  Industry,"  and  became  for 
many  years  the  untiring  champion  of  that  policy, 
in  its  broadest  extent.  He  wrote  a  series  of  nine 
essays,  which  were  published  by  a  very  reputa- 
ble society,  established  in  Philadelphia  to  aid  in 


306  MATTHEW    CAREY. 

the  encouragement  of  domestic  industry.  They 
were  anxiously  sought  for  by  the  friends  of  the 
system,  and  were  generally  copied  into  the  news- 
papers north  of  the  Potomac.  Subsequently  he 
brought  forth  numerous  other  writings,  favoring 
the  "  Protective  System,"  forming,  in  all,  fifty- 
nine  distinct  publications,  and  embracing,  in 
the  whole,  two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty-two  pages.  Many  public  demostrations 
of  gratitude'  followed  his  labors,  in  this  as  in 
other  departments  of  exertion,  and  there  were  also 
indications  of  public  opinion,  denunciatory  of  his 
toils  and  his  views,  expressed  in  no  stinted  terms. 

The  latter  portion  of  Mr.  Carey's  life  was 
eminently  active  and  useful.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  all  the  worthy  charities  of  the  day.  He 
seemed  to  have  an  ambition  to  do  good,  and 
whenever  he  took  hold  of  a  cause,  he  brought  to 
it  the  devotion  of  his  early  days.  He  was  a  bold 
and  unceasing  advocate  of  the  great  system  of 
Universal  Education  —  utterly  repudiating  the  idea 
that  there  should  be  one  education  for  the  rich 
and  another  for  the  poor,  zealously  declaring  that 
he  would  have  education  as  free  as  the  genial 
air.  His  labors  in  behalf  of  the  poor  —  constantly 
seeking,  both  by  his  pen  and  his  bounty,  to  ame- 
liorate their  condition  —  were  untiring  and  disin- 
terested. 

His  last  publication  was  a  volume  upon  the 
subject  of  domestic  economy,  entitled  "  The 


MATTHEW    CAREY.  307 

Philosophy  of  Common  Sense,"  the  object  of 
which  was  to  embody  his  experience  and  the 
maxims  of  his  career  of  fourscore  years. 

Mr.  Carey  was  a  man  of  great  sagacity,  of  an 
ardent  temperament,  of  untiring  industry,  and  of 
great  practical  ability.  He  always  recognised 
the  claims  of  society,  and  devoted  much  of  his 
life  to  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men.  He  died  in 
Philadelphia,  on  the  17th  September,  1839.  His 
funeral  was  numerously  attended,  and  his  de- 
cease, even  at  the  ripe  age  of  80  years,  called 
forth  the  sincere  grief  of  his  fellow-citizens. 


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